The night battle was like a storm. It came suddenly and went away quickly. Before midnight, the entire battlefield returned to calm. Countless sergeants in blue chainmail were cleaning the battlefield. After all, this was the territory of Baoding Prefecture. Just kill them.
Burying it will not only cause a bad smell, but may even cause plague.
On the other side of the battlefield, tens of thousands of prisoners were lined up in a row, pulled by ropes, stumbling forward in the dark night. Almost all of these prisoners looked depressed, and some were injured, but most of them were injured.
Medicine had been applied and the wounds had stopped bleeding. The cavalrymen responsible for escorting them used big sticks to drive them away and let them go faster.
As for how to deal with these prisoners, the Peiping Army is also very skilled at it. They will first pull them back and check their identities. If there are citizens willing to come forward as guarantors, they will temporarily restore their freedom and become residents. If no citizens come forward to guaranty, then they will
There is nothing to say, just drag them into slave labor, dig wells, mines, build roads and build river embankments. Only after working for five years can you regain your freedom.
As the first citizen of Beipingxing Province, Wan Lei also has high guarantee authority, but there are very few people who can vouch for him, at least they are available talents that he likes.
"Report, the battlefield has been cleared. More than 17,000 enemy troops have been wiped out, more than 7,000 were seriously injured and died, 12,000 were captured, and 9,000 muskets, tens of thousands of ordnance and armor, and several thousand stones of rations were seized.
." A staff officer submitted a military report to Zhao Quanjie.
Zhao Quanjie just glanced at it and asked: "What are the casualties of our army?"
"Because there were thousands of enemy troops who resisted tenaciously and were armed with firearms, thousands of our troops were unfortunately shot during the siege. Fortunately, the armor was strong, and only 67 people died in the battle, and more than a thousand people were injured to varying degrees.
Arrangements have been made to send them back to Beiping City to rest."
"Nearly seventy people were killed in the battle, and more than a thousand were injured!" Zhao Quanjie's face was a little livid. The officers and soldiers under him were all trained by him personally. They were as close as brothers. If one of them was killed or seriously injured in battle, it meant that he would personally pay homage to the martyrs.
He went to express his condolences. This time, there were over a thousand casualties. How could he not be angry?
"The enemy has firearms. If our army had not chosen to attack at night and arrange fire traps, we would have suffered more casualties," the staff officer said in a low voice.
"Okay, as soon as possible, compile the list of the dead and give it to me, and send someone to keep their bones properly and transport them back to Beiping City for burial after the war." Zhao Quanjie knew that it was useless to get angry. War is so cruel, isn't it?
If you kill me, I will kill you. This time, we annihilated more than 20,000 enemies and captured more than 10,000 prisoners. We just lost this few people, which can be considered a great victory.
The victory of this victory mainly depended on the proper strategy, the coordination of the whole army, and the artillery as the trump card. Otherwise, this battle would be really difficult to win. After all, the Ming army was equipped with a large number of firearms. If it were a head-on confrontation,
, even if we can win, I am afraid that we will kill one thousand enemies and lose eight hundred to ourselves, which is not worth the loss.
Of course, firearms are not invincible. Due to the backward manufacturing technology of firearms, the most common firearm at this stage is the burst gun. It is not so much a gun as a miniaturized artillery, because its structure and usage principles are very advanced.
The loading of the cannon is the same. The process of loading the ammunition is complicated, and it relies on an open flame to ignite and launch. In short, it has many rough spots and is not suitable for equipping the cavalry at all.
And this kind of firearm also has two fatal weaknesses, one is that it is afraid of moisture, and the other is that it is afraid of fire. In rainy and foggy weather, this kind of gun is just a piece of scrap metal, not as useful as a mace; and gunpowder requires
Beware of sparks. Take this time as an example. If you fall into a fire trap, the gunpowder will become a powder keg. If you fail to hurt others, you will hurt yourself first.
But then again, the world will still be dominated by hot weapons in the future, and cold weapon wars will have to withdraw from the stage of history sooner or later. However, hot weapons are still relatively backward and have not shown their ferocious features. Therefore, in addition to developing artillery, the Peking Army
The army still focuses on cavalry and archery.
In the future, if a more convenient and practical flintlock gun is developed, it will not be too late to equip it in the army. In addition, whether it is the era of cold weapons or the era of hot weapons, the more mobile the army is, the stronger its combat effectiveness will be. In the absence of armored vehicles,
In this era, the cavalry is still the ace team and must be vigorously developed.
"Commander, we found something special in the enemy camp." At this time, a battalion commander hurriedly came to report with a small iron ball.
"Something special?" Zhao Quanjie took it and weighed it. This small iron ball weighed about ten kilograms, was hollow, had sharp corners on the outside, and had a strange structure. In short, he had never seen it before, so he couldn't help but ask the staff officer beside him: "This
What is it? Have you seen it?"
The staff officer took the iron ball and looked at it carefully for a while before shaking his head and saying: "I haven't seen it before, so I don't know what it is. Our army has captured many Ming generals, and my subordinates are going to torture them."
"No need to torture, this is a mine, also called a gunpowder cannon." Before the staff officer left, he heard Wan Lei's voice.
"What's the use of landmines?" Zhao Xueer said curiously. She had been following Wan Lei as a guard. She was also wearing a set of heavy armor and a helmet, just like an ordinary soldier. If she hadn't spoken,
Others really can't tell that she is a woman.
"Landmines are firearms that are buried underground and detonated when the enemy passes nearby. From a structural point of view, this kind of gunpowder cannon is relatively primitive and is ignited by a match rope. If it can be improved, more powerful explosives can be replaced and an ignition device can be installed.
If the device is changed to a step-type or pull-fire type, it will be even more powerful."
"Oh, it turns out this thing has such a use. Mr. Wan is well-informed and his subordinates admire him," the staff officer said.
"This kind of thing is very insidious and low-cost. It has been used in wars as early as the Song Dynasty. It is something that our army must be careful about. If it accidentally enters the mine formation, the casualties will be heavy. The Ming army actually brought
There is such a thing, which shows that the imperial court is determined to destroy our Peking Army." Wan Lei snorted coldly, landmines were banned weapons in later generations, but there was no international convention at this time, and the Ming army would not use such sinister weapons.
strangeness.
However, the discovery that the Ming army used landmines also made Wan Lei see a big flaw in the Peiping army - there were no engineers. In the future, they would really have to set up engineering battalions to be responsible for removing danger and opening roads.
You must know that not all places are plains. To fight in various terrain environments, cavalry alone is not enough. Multiple arms must cooperate with each other to exert stronger combat effectiveness. In particular, it is necessary to cultivate a group of soldiers who can immediately
Highly qualified special forces soldiers who can fight even when dismounted.
"Sir, what should we do with these landmines?" Zhao Quanjie reminded him in a low voice when he saw Wan Lei was silent.
"Destroy, destroy everything."
"Destroy it? Wouldn't that be a pity? Our army can..." The staff officer was a little reluctant.
"What? You still want to bury this kind of thing on our own land?" Wan Lei smiled slightly and said: "This kind of thing looks insidious, but it is still relatively simple and very impractical. In the future, we will develop a more powerful one.
The big ones are buried on the border, and when the enemy comes, they will die in batches."
"Oh." The staff officer said no more and immediately sent people to destroy these mines. Of course, destruction must be destroyed, and the gunpowder contained in the mines must be recycled. After all, the Peiping Army also lacks gunpowder. Although these poorly made
The gunpowder cannot be used in artillery, but it is also very effective when used as ignition powder.
Nearly 30,000 people cleared the battlefield, and the efficiency was still very high. In the second half of the night, the entire battlefield was cleared, and the Peiping Army began to move across the board. This time, instead of taking advantage of the victory and advancing, they retreated nearly ten miles and stopped at a place called Lijiaji.
place to camp and rest
This time, they only defeated the front army of the Ming Army. The main force of the Ming Army is still there, and the real battle is still to come. You must have enough energy to cope with the hard battle that follows.
After just a day and night of hard fighting, most of the soldiers were very tired. Fortunately, the Peking Army usually strengthened its training. If it were the Ming Army, it would have been exhausted long ago. Unlike the Ming Army, the Peking Army never set up camps. The rear army put sleeping bags
The soldiers were sent down with the tents, and as soon as the soldiers put up the tents, they got into their sleeping bags and rested on the spot.
Of course, when the army returns to rest, the patrolling scouts will not be idle. These scouts set up a cordon within dozens of miles around the army. Whenever an enemy army approaches, an alarm will be sounded, and the army will immediately
You can concentrate and fight.
The army rested, and Wan Lei was not idle either. A dozen prisoners and generals who were demoted were pulled in front of him, and he wanted to receive them personally.
"Pingxi Hou Musheng, Commander-in-Chief Liu Sheng, Commander Gao Jing..." Wan Lei looked at the names on the list, then at the corresponding person, and finally his eyes settled on a middle-aged man named Jiao Yu.
"Jiao Yu, Chief of the Staff Department of the Ministry of War." Wan Lei glanced at the middle-aged man again and saw that he had a mustache and a thin monkey face. He looked like a master.
But it’s no wonder that the Ministry of War is in charge of sixth-rank officials. In the capital where high-ranking officials gather, even sixth-rank officials cannot be called officials. Especially the Ministry of War’s official department, which has no power and no oil and water. If a battle is defeated, it will be blamed.
Those who were sent there were all people who did poorly in the court.
"Untie him." Of course Wan Lei wanted to win over those who were excluded by the Ming court, as the united front work required it.
"There is no need to be hypocritical. If we fall into your hands, we will not survive, let alone stoop to become a thief." However, the guy didn't know how to express himself, and stared at Wan Lei with his eyes wide open.
"Whether you want to be killed or beheaded is up to you. As generals of the defeated army, I only want you to die." Another young man shouted, but his cry was not responded to by his colleagues, especially the surrendered generals.
He was about to be killed and chopped into pieces, and he was so frightened that he could hardly cry for mercy.
"Kill you? Wouldn't that dirty the sword of our Peking Army?!" Wan Lei sneered, "Don't think that you will be freed by death. If you fall into the hands of our Peking Army, there are only two results. One is to cooperate honestly and keep you.
There is one way to survive; the other is that you don’t know what is good and what is good. We won’t kill you, but we can ruin your reputation and make you unable to stand up forever. As for how to choose, it’s up to you."
"Don't underestimate the capabilities of our Peking Army. We have the ability to capture you, but we also have the ability to ruin your reputation. Whether you cooperate or not, you will not be able to escape the name of the second minister." Wan Lei looked at those who surrendered unwillingly.
He glanced at it and added.
"Your Majesty is wise and will not be deceived by false accusations by traitors like you. He will definitely rectify our names." The young man shouted.
"The Holy One is wise?! Haha..." Wan Lei burst into laughter, looked at the Jingzhong Guard beside him, and asked with a smile: "He actually said that the Holy One is wise, what do you think?"
"Hahaha..." All the elite loyal guards laughed wildly, and a young elite guard also laughed and said: "No reward for meritorious service, no punishment for no fault. How can such a young emperor be called wise? What a big joke!"
"That's right, we don't want to be the adopted sons of loyal ministers, but the emperor's son refuses to let us live. We can only rebel against his mother. This means that the government forces the people to rebel against the people and we have to rebel." Another elite loyal guard cursed angrily.
"You..." The young man was laughed at by the group and suddenly became angry.
Wan Lei ignored the young man who was staring angrily, but turned to Chief Jiao and said, "Master Jiao, it is said that those who know the current affairs are heroes. Our Peking Army values talents the most, but anyone with knowledge can be reused."
Jiao Yu frowned, seeming to be tempted, but still kept silent.
"I never like to force people. It's up to you to choose whether you want to or not." Wan Lei waved his hand, "Come here, send Mr. Jiao back to the cell, and give him a bottle of poisonous wine. Whether he drinks it or not, it's up to you.
He volunteered."
As soon as Wan Lei finished speaking, before Jiao Yu could reply, two elite guards swarmed up and pulled him down. Wan Lei glanced at the dozen or so people present and asked: "Who else wants to commit suicide? Stand here."
Come out and let's give him a good time."
Among the dozen or so people, only the young man took a step forward. The others' faces were pale, and some of them took a few steps back for fear of being dragged out and poisoned.
"Okay, since you want to die, I will grant it to you. But I kindly remind you in advance that it is up to you to choose whether to die or not. As for whether you will be famous or infamy after your death, it is not up to you; as for your family, it is not up to you.
Whether you live or die, it's not up to you or me." Wan Lei sneered at the young man.
"What do you mean by that?" The young man was horrified, "If you dare to do anything to my family, I, I will turn into a ghost and won't let you go."
"Why are you so nervous? You are not even afraid of death, but you are still worried about the things behind you?" Wan Lei still looked indifferent, "Since our Peking Army dares to go against the imperial court, of course we have some means. Of course there are people in the imperial court. Although those people cannot cover the sky with one hand.
, but it is not difficult to punish one or two people. As for whether you will die loyally or surrender to the enemy and rebel, that is a matter of words from those people."
"Of course, these are posthumous affairs and have no impact on you personally, but it is hard to say for your family. I believe that the Ming army has suffered consecutive defeats, and the emperor's son will definitely be furious, and it is normal to find some people as a punching bag.
Of course, relatives of the emperor like Mr. Mu don’t need to worry, but it’s hard to say for a low-level official like you.”
"The Holy One will not listen to the nonsense of treacherous ministers, let alone the loyal and the traitor." The young man argued forcefully.
"Haha." Wan Lei smiled slightly and looked the young man up and down, as if looking at something rare. "At this time, I still believe in the emperor's son Shengming. It's really hard to find someone like you. But then again, if
The emperor is really a wise man. He rewarded me with a small official, so he really wouldn’t have developed to this point."
"But now it seems that there is zero chance that the emperor's child will be wise. Sooner or later, his Ming Dynasty will be crippled by me. Since you want to be buried in such a dying dynasty, I have nothing to say. I can only help you.
It feels worthless." Wan Lei waved his hand, signaling the Jingzhong Guards to pull this stubborn guy down.