The combination of artillery and cavalry tactics has always been Wan Lei's favorite. First use artillery to bombard the enemy's formation, then use the cavalry to charge, like sharp knives tearing flesh and blood, to maximize the damage to the enemy. Wait until the enemy is almost done.
The tactic of trying to persuade someone to surrender when they collapse is a tried and true tactic.
Of course, the use of artillery and cavalry tactics is generally only applicable to plains or plateau areas. The hilly and mountainous areas crisscrossed by rivers in the south of the Yangtze River are not conducive to cavalry operations. This requires the formation of infantry, and what the Peking Army lacks most is infantry. Therefore,
Wan Lei planned to expand the cavalry to 200,000 and form 100,000 infantry, which would be used to advance across the Yangtze River in the future.
In order to recruit troops, one is to expand the population. If the Peking Army wants to have more than 300,000 troops, it must have a population of no less than 10 million; the other is to expand the territory. The existing territory is still too small to accommodate thousands.
Ten thousand people. Therefore, the Military Commission headed by Wan Lei formulated a strategic plan, which was to eliminate the main Ming army in the north and at the same time take the opportunity to occupy half of the country in the north of the Yangtze River.
This strategic plan has been laid out for a long time, all the armies are in place, and everything is going according to plan. What the Peking Army has to do now is to eliminate the more than 100,000 Ming troops led by Ping An outside Peiping City, and reverse the relationship with the Ming Army in one fell swoop.
The comparison of military strength reduces the resistance of the Peking Army when it goes south.
In order to secure the tripod in one battle and prevent Ping'an from leading his troops to break through and organize a resistance force, Wan Lei had already asked Zhao Quanjie to send people to occupy Marco Polo Bridge and block the Ming army's retreat. In short, it would be better if we did not fight this battle, and it would be clean once it was fought.
It must be done neatly, not allowing a single Ming army to escape, and not letting the news of the Ming army's defeat spread. The Peiping army will be caught off guard and sweep all the way across Jiangbei.
Precisely because this was the battle of Dingding, Wan Lei personally went into battle, led 30,000 cavalry in the city, and launched a fierce assault on the Ministry of Security under the cover of artillery. Although the strength of the troops was very different, the overall quality and equipment of the Peiping Army were very good.
With the advantage, the morale was even higher, so as soon as the two armies fought, the Peking Army had the upper hand. Although Ping An tried his best to urge the soldiers to fight, they were still retreating under such a fierce offensive.
On the battlefield, whoever controls the rhythm of the war will take the initiative. Wan Lei commanded his 30,000 cavalry and divided them into three teams to surround the Ming army. They were like a pack of wolves ready to attack at any time. The Ming army
As soon as there is a gap in the camp, they will launch an attack and bite the Ming army hard.
Being surrounded and beaten, his troops are constantly losing strength, and his energy is also plummeting. Ping An is a little anxious. He knows that if this continues, the army will collapse sooner or later. However, no matter how many people he sends to break out, he will always be defeated.
They would be pushed back by the Peiping Army, and they would not even be able to forcefully break through, let alone defeat the Peiping Army.
The Peiping Army was also very smart. In order to prevent the Ming Army from jumping over the wall, it did not surround the Ming Army on all sides. It only surrounded the east, west, north and east, leaving a retreat for the Ming Army. Ping An knew clearly that the Peiping Army was using the encirclement divisions that were necessary
tactics, but he still had to lead his men to fight and retreat in the hope of retreating to a favorable terrain, so that he could use the geographical advantage to regain the situation in the battle.
However, the hope was beautiful, but the reality was very cruel. When the Ming army was forced to retreat about four miles away, Ping An received an urgent report that the Marco Polo Bridge had been captured by the Peiping army. He was stunned. At the same time, he remembered the formation before the war.
The words of the previous person: "You are surrounded!"
From a tactical point of view, the Ming army was indeed surrounded, because to the south of the Ming army was the Marco Polo River. This river was large or small, and it was enough to block the Ming army's retreat, and the Marco Polo Bridge was on the Marco Polo River. As the most important bridge, Ping An had already arranged for two thousand people to stay on the bridge to protect the retreat. However, what he did not expect was that in just one night, the heavily guarded Marco Polo Bridge was captured.
In fact, this cannot be blamed on the Ming army who stayed by the Marco Polo Bridge. They were already dedicated enough, but what they encountered was the 10,000-person cavalry team of the Second Army of the Peking Army equipped with thousands of muskets. This cavalry team launched in the early morning During the surprise attack, the defenders heard crackling gunshots from all directions, and immediately fell into chaos. They were muddle-headed and were killed in the dark by the enemies who were rushing towards them.
Losing the Marco Polo Bridge means that the Ming army has lost its way of retreat, and more than 100,000 Ming troops have been forced into a desperate situation. Ping An need not guess, but he can also predict that if this continues, the entire army will be destroyed.
"Send a message to General Wu Feige at Zijingguan, asking him to lead troops to rescue immediately." Ping An ordered the soldiers like this. He no longer dared to think about conquering Beiping City and making an immortal achievement. How to save his life. The most important thing was that as the Ming army was retreating steadily, he could only hope that the friendly forces stationed at Zijingguan could quickly lead troops to rescue him.
The distress letter was sent out quickly, but Zijingguan is not close to Beiping City. Even if you work hard, it will take five or six hours to arrive. This means that Ping An will have to fight for at least a whole day, and he can't I'm sure the reinforcements will come.
In the painful suffering of being surrounded and waiting for reinforcements, time passed little by little, and the Ming army gradually retreated to the Lugou River. At this time, the Peking Army's offensive also slowed down, but they still watched from a distance or not. , and the number of troops seems to have increased a lot. In short, there are fully armed cavalry all over the mountains and plains, at least fifty or sixty thousand people.
At noon, when the exhausted Ming army was scrambling for time to set up the defense line of the camp, they saw a man with a red tassel leading a black cavalry to the front of the formation, and behind him, there were several people wearing Ming army uniforms. Ping An could tell at a glance that these people were Gu Cheng and the others, but he didn't expect that they had all become surrendered generals.
"Everyone, we are all descendants of Huang Yan. We have the same ancestors and roots, and we are all brothers. We should join hands to help each other and share the peaceful and prosperous times. However, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty provoked wars for his own selfish desires, which caused the brothers to be separated and the people to be in trouble. , We, the Peiping Army, have the common people in the world in mind and have been reluctant to make concessions, and even took the initiative to give up the two Hejian Prefectures in Baoding in order to calm the troops and the people."
"However, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty still refused to give up and insisted on killing our soldiers and civilians in Peiping. We couldn't bear it anymore and had no way to retreat, so we had to rise up and resist. You are all sensible people. You have your own minds on what is right and what is wrong. A bright mirror. Please also consider the common people in the world, put down your weapons, and let us all stop this unnecessary fighting. Although Wan is not talented, I can guarantee that I will never treat you badly."
It was Wan Lei himself who went out to persuade people to surrender twice. His powerful words of "move with emotion and understand with reason" resounded for miles, and everyone in the Ming army camp could hear it clearly. And most of them fell into silence. Not only the soldiers, but also some generals felt that these words were reasonable and they no longer had much fighting spirit in their hearts.
Ping An saw that most of the soldiers had already surrendered and knew that the situation was over. But just as he was hesitating whether to continue to resist desperately and wait for reinforcements or to surrender, a soldier suddenly came to report and handed over a copy of the Flying Pigeon Pass. The book was handed over. When he opened it, his face suddenly turned livid, because this letter was sent back to him by Wu Gao. Not only did the letter not say anything about the reinforcements, but it also advised him to surrender safely. This shows that Wu Gao has surrendered. .
It is true that Wu Gao had opened the Bauhinia Pass a day ago and led tens of thousands of his cavalry to surrender to the Peking Army. The person who went to persuade him to surrender was Xu Jing, the son of Xu Huizu. Xu Jing brought his father's autographed letter and When Wu Gao saw a few special tokens, he immediately surrendered them, because these special tokens belonged to his wife, children, and children. Since his wife, children, and children had all fallen into the hands of the Peking Army, why should he fight?
The reason why Wu Gao's wife, children, and children fell into the hands of the Peking Army was due to the Jingzhong Guards. As the First Fleet approached Jinling City, the Ming Dynasty was shaken, and everyone in the court was worried about how to defend Jinling, so naturally there was no Kong Lihui was treated as a hostage by the general's family. The Jingzhong Guards lurking in Jinling only paid some money to sell off the officers and soldiers guarding the hostages, smuggled them out directly, and brought them back to Beiping City.
Precisely because the Peiping Army had family members of generals in their hands, Gu Cheng and other Ming generals also surrendered one after another. The few people who were ignorant of current affairs and shouted that loyal ministers should not serve the two masters were directly thrown into prison by Wan Lei. Of course, Wan Lei They won't kill them, they will just lock them up for a few days to let them sober up. If they are still stubborn, they will be sent overseas and let them commit suicide.
Trapped in a tight siege, with no way to retreat, the only reinforcements that could be counted on not only did not come, but also surrendered. In such a desperate situation, Ping An shook his head in pain and gave an order: the entire army laid down their weapons and surrendered.
"I gave up my weapons and surrendered so quickly. I haven't had a chance to go into battle yet." Zhao Xueer rode to Wan Lei's side and complained, because at the beginning of the war, Wan Lei had forbidden her from going into battle. When others went to battle and made meritorious deeds, she could only watch. , naturally feeling very unhappy.
"They are all our own people. If you can, don't kill them as much as possible." Wan Lei rolled his eyes at the violent woman Zhao Xueer, turned around and ordered to his general: "Send an order to Commander Zhao and ask him to lead the army across the river immediately, recover Baoding Mansion, and Take the road to Zhenfu and enter Henan, echoing the Zhou headquarters."
"Yes, what about surrendering troops?"
"Master Tie and the others will be responsible for gathering the surrendered troops. Send an order to the people below to gather the surrendered troops as soon as possible and bring them all back to Beiping City. As soon as things happen here, assemble immediately and march south as quickly as possible." Wan Lei ordered, he This time I also personally led the team on the expedition.
The main force of the Ming Army in the north of the Yangtze River was about to surrender, and the defenses in various places were empty. The three armies of the Peking Army launched a lightning attack, and the first fleet was responsible for containing the main force of the Ming Army in the south of the Yangtze River. It was easy to capture half of the mountains in the north of the Yangtze River. Wan Lei had been planning for so long, and it was time to come to an end. It’s time to go online.
No, according to the plan of the Military Commission, Wan Lei personally led 30,000 troops as the South Route Army, marched into Shandong and the Huaihe River to attack Yangzhou, while Zhao Quanjie led nearly 40,000 troops as the West Route Army, crossed Shanxi to capture Henan, and advanced on Huguang; while the North Route The army consisted of 40,000 people from Zhou Tianshou's First Group Army. It mainly conquered northern Shanxi and Shaanxi, entered Hanzhong, and remotely controlled Sichuan.