Zheng Fengshou also saw that in addition to terrain and troop strength, there were also weapons factors. The trebuchet was an important part, forming a three-dimensional strike.
"I wonder how the battle in Tuozi, the Dragon King is going?" Zheng Fengshou paused, then smiled and said, "There must be no problem if Mr. Guo personally directs the defensive operations."
Liu Xingzuo said: "The news is coming soon. The Jianlu from Xuanchuan are unlucky when they meet Mr. Guo." As he said that, he smiled and shook his head, as if he was pitying Jianlu.
………………
Dragon King Tuozi.
All the carriages have been destroyed, and some are still burning, emitting black smoke.
The three Niu Lu, plus the shaved men, and thousands of troops continued to attack, but they still failed and retreated, with heavy losses of men and horses.
It’s not that I’m conserving my strength, or that I’m unwilling to work hard, it’s that I have no strength.
As time went by, Jianlu's symptoms of poisoning became more and more serious, which greatly affected Jianlu's combat effectiveness.
Even the defenders were wondering while fighting, whether Jianlu had not eaten for several days, had a bad stomach, or was infected with a widespread disease.
Sarna and Tuerle were also depressed and even more uncomfortable. One was dizzy, the other had a headache, and was also accompanied by waves of nausea.
Looking at his subordinates, most of them were languid, some fell to the ground and went crazy, foamed at the mouth, or suddenly fainted, twitched all over, and peed their pants.
If it were normal, forget it, but this is fighting, attacking the mountain!
Such situations continue to appear in the attacking troops, and they are becoming more and more serious. How can we fight this battle?
"Look, another one has fallen." Fujino Hide just had his head pressed down by his father, and he stuck his head out again, eyes wide open and shouted: "Are you crazy about pulling horns? Well, that guy is still vomiting..."
Fujino rolled his eyes helplessly, guessing that he was poisoned, which happened once at the foot of Dragon Bone Mountain. Needless to say, it was Guo Dajing's fault again.
"Keep shooting, don't worry about anything else." Fujino shouted loudly, asking the musketeers to concentrate.
The effect of veterans leading new recruits is quite good. Although they are worse than Fujino Masaru's original men, they are protected by fortifications, so there is no need to panic when fighting.
"Let's mobilize them all. Jianlu probably won't have the strength to add more troops to attack." Guo Dajing suggested to Shang Kexi.
He has made a clear judgment that Jianlu is not pretending to be like this. They may be mild or severe. Most of them show signs of poisoning and have become a soft-footed shrimp army.
Shang Ke happily issued the order. He knew Guo Dajing's intention and killed a large number of the Jianlu who attacked the mountain, without giving them a chance to retreat.
The number of projectiles from the trebuchets suddenly increased, and large and small stones flew through the air and hit the enemy. The archers also opened fire, and the dense arrows darkened the sky.
"Two rows together, open fire." Fujino Masaya changed the four-stage shooting into two-stage shooting, and fired a denser amount of lead bullets at Jianlu.
The Jianlu were no longer able to increase their troops, and there was no need to maintain continuous firepower. To defeat the Jianlu who were attacking the mountain with fierce shooting was the time for the pikemen to charge down from the heights.
No, there is another condition, that is, Jianlu's archers are exhausted, or have been killed in large numbers by trebuchets, or have been poisoned and cannot pose a threat.
Jianlu was already finished, it was just a matter of time. Guo Dajing didn't want the soldiers to pay more casualties just because he wanted to grab more heads.
The bows and arrows fired at the defenders' positions became increasingly sparse and weak, and the Jianlu soldiers who attacked the mountain showed signs of retreating after suffering a large number of casualties.
Shang Kexi looked at Guo Dajing, who smiled faintly and made a gesture of invitation.
After laughing, Shang Kexi turned his head and loudly gave the order to attack.
War drums rumbled, and rows of heavily armored spearmen shouted and rushed out of their positions, pressing towards the enemy with sonorous steps.
The counterweight of the trebuchet was increased to the maximum, and the stones and mines flew through the air and hit the Jianlu in the distance.
Muskets, bows and arrows also fired extended shots, and the bombardment of trebuchets formed a barrage of interceptions and killings.
At close range, medium range, and long range, the Ming army launched a layered and covering counterattack, which was fierce and ferocious.
The Jianlu soldiers had suffered heavy losses and were about to retreat, but at this moment, the defenders launched a counterattack first.
Sarna belatedly ordered Ming Jin to retreat. He was indeed slow to respond. However, he also made a mistake in judgment and failed to see that the defenders still had reservations and were not doing their best.
Although there were still troops that could continue to be invested, Sarna felt miserable when he saw the condition of the soldiers and reluctantly chose to give up.
Although the soldiers were still in good enough condition to fight, Sarna had no confidence at all in attacking from above due to the decline in combat effectiveness.
After dispatching the supporting troops, Sarna ordered the troops at the foot of the mountain to prepare for battle. If the enemy gave up the advantageous location and rushed down from the mountain, that was what he hoped.
But obviously, Monk Guo Dajing will not make such a mistake. He is already a fish on the chopping block, so there is no need to rush to destroy it in a fight.
The pikemen were chasing and killing, and the trebuchets did not stop. Their firing range was the reference for the pikemen's pursuit distance.
The retreating Jianlu, or those who were repulsed, suffered heavy casualties under the attack of bows, arrows, muskets, and trebuchets, and only a small part managed to escape.
The fierce battle finally ended, the enemy and we distanced themselves again, and the tragic scene was in full view.
The hillside was littered with corpses, including those of barbers, soldiers, and defenders. The injured but not dead were groaning in the cold snow, twisting and curling up in pain.
The pikemen slowly retreated to their position, taking away their wounded and dead bodies. Dozens of swordsmen and shieldmen came out, harvesting heads on the hillside and stripping off their armor.
Cleaning the battlefield under the eyes of the enemy was both humiliating and provocative. However, the Jianlu soldiers at the foot of the mountain began to retreat as a whole, and they could only swallow the pain of defeat angrily and unwillingly.
Turle had become seriously ill. He lost consciousness and fainted on the ground. He was carried on a cart by the soldiers. His pants were soaked all over, and he became incontinent to urinate in extreme embarrassment.
There are many Jianlu who are in the same situation as him. Not only have they lost their combat capabilities, but they also need the care of others.
After the failure of the attack on the mountain, the two thousand captives suffered seven to eight hundred casualties yesterday and today. Excluding those who were more seriously poisoned, there were less than one thousand capable soldiers.
Even among the troops who are able to fight, there are many mildly poisoned soldiers, and their overall combat effectiveness has dropped significantly. It is not an exaggeration to call them remnants.
"If the reinforcements can arrive and join forces together, they should be able to completely annihilate the enemy." Shang Ke looked at the retreating enemies with joy, showing his eagerness.
Who doesn't want to make great achievements, now seems to be a good opportunity. Even if the reinforcements are not available, Shang Kexi is eager to try, not wanting to let this defeated Jianluo escape.
Guo Dajing had a different idea. He looked at the retreating Jianlu and said slowly: "According to the messenger's report, and counting the time, Deputy Marshal Chen should have blocked Jianlu's retreat."
Turning to look at the defensive position, he continued: "After two defensive operations, do you think these soldiers we are leading are elite?"
"That's natural." Shang Kexi blurted out without thinking, "Which troop in the Dongjiang Army can stop the Jianlu with considerable force and suffer few casualties?"
Guo Dajing smiled faintly and said: "That's it. We try to preserve these elites as much as possible. When we expand, they will be the backbone. Jianlu is already a defeated army. The longer it goes, the weaker its combat power will be. We have a long-term view, so why bother to have too many now?
What about the future seeds consumed by the earth?”
One belt and two, or one belt and three, and one belt and five, were Guo Dajing's future military training methods.
The more veterans you have, the faster you will train. Especially those who have little psychological fear of Jianlu are precious seeds and will infect new recruits with this emotion.
Shang Kexi was thoughtful, and his heart was full of admiration for Guo Dajing.
These troops are indeed elite in terms of combat experience and psychological quality, but they may not be his and Guo Dajing's subordinates in the future.
Taking a long-term view is actually for the sake of the entire Dongjiang Army. How many generals can do this if they have such a public spirit but give up their great achievements?
Patting Guo Dajing's arm, Shang Kexi extended his thumb and praised sincerely: "I'm not as good as you!"
Guo Dajing laughed and said: "Without the skin, there is no place for the hair to be inserted. Someone told me this truth, Master Cui, isn't it you?"
If the skin is gone, how will the hair be attached?
Cui Xiaoyi did not correct him, just laughed and shook his head, saying: "How can I have that insight? I have benefited a lot from Mr. Guo's good advice. I must preserve the seeds of Korean volunteers."
Trying to preserve veterans and backbones as much as possible does not mean being timid about fighting, but rather not fighting uncertain battles and not rushing into battle just to grab credit.
The defeated Jianlu were already remnants and must be eliminated. The opportunity could not be missed. However, they united with friendly forces and launched a siege with absolutely superior force to win at the minimum cost.
Although the Jianlu retreated, they could not take their time here and began to make preparations to follow and pursue them. Although the Jianlu were all cavalry, if their retreat was blocked, they were not afraid of temporarily getting rid of them.
From the miniaturization of trebuchets to the trebuchets equipped with wheels, improvements have been ongoing. Being able to throw four or five kilograms of heavy objects more than 100 meters and move faster is what Guo Dajing is doing for
Make plans for future field battles.
Due to time constraints, only a dozen of these trebuchets were built, all of which were deployed with the army to increase their firepower.
Some ordinary wooden carts, coupled with wooden cannons, shields or wooden planks, are temporarily used as steel carts or boxcars. They have a shielding effect in front of the team to guard against the build-up dogs jumping over the wall and launching cavalry attacks.
Behind the carts are the forward troops, with pikemen and sword and shield soldiers in the middle, and musketeers on both sides; behind the forward troops are catapults and large groups of troops.
In the opinion of Shang Kexi and others, Guo Dajing's arrangement was relatively cautious and conservative. It was a formation designed to advance along the main road. In other words, it was similar to positional defense, but quite different from field battles.
"Field fighting is not possible." Guo Dajing did not shy away from his perceived weaknesses, "Unless absolutely necessary, I will not fight with Jianlu in the field."
Even if it's fear, there's nothing to be ashamed of. It's just the way it is, and there's no point in having to be tough and show off.
"There were too many casualties in field battles." Shang Kexi had some experience and said, "Jianlu's field battles were really powerful. There were light cavalry galloping and shooting, heavy cavalry rushing into the formation, and the desperate charge of dead soldiers..."
For a strict infantry battle formation, the enemy's light cavalry galloping around the battle formation is a headache. They constantly pay casualties, but there is nothing they can do about the light cavalry that comes and goes like the wind.
This is very similar to the style of play in the era when the Mongolian cavalry was invincible. They first used long-range attacks to kill the enemy and cause chaos to the enemy. Then, the heavy cavalry launched a charge, or used heavy armored infantry to attack and defeat the enemy in close combat.
The fighting methods are quite diverse. For the slow-moving infantry battle formation, the mobility of the cavalry is basically an advantage that is difficult to crack.
As for advancing along the main road and engaging the enemy, although it can be regarded as a field battle, it is not an open wilderness, and the roundabout, outflanking and other tactics of the Jianlu cavalry will basically not be used.
According to the historical data that Guo Dajing knew, the Ming army had defeated Jianlu in similar battles more than once.
"How many artillery pieces do we have in Dongjiang Town? I think the troops have very little equipment." Guo Dajing said with doubts in his heart.
Shang Kexi said: "Most of the artillery is in the navy, and there are very few infantry. In fact, it is not very powerful, and it is very heavy. It is difficult to move with the army."
Guo Dajing nodded lightly and said no more. The Dongjiang Army's ability to survive on the island depended entirely on the navy.
The navy was not built from scratch. It was transferred from Denglai when the town was opened. Some artillery was normal.
The strong navy was the guarantee of the island's security, so Jianlu did not dare to attack with light boats and rafts. Guo Dajing also understood this.
Therefore, although he hopes that his troops can be equipped with a large number of artillery, at present, it is unrealistic. At least, Dongjiang Town cannot give him much help, and he can only rely on himself to find ways.
After intensive preparations, it was already afternoon. The reinforcements led by Li Weiluan finally arrived at Longwang Tuozi. They were really exhausted after walking over the mountains and ridges on small roads.
"Have the Jianlu troops retreated towards Xuanchuan?" Li Weiluan was very surprised. He never expected that the blocking battle would turn out like this with a large number of troops.
Shang Ke proudly introduced the defense facilities and the battle process to Li Weiluan. The piles of human heads proved that this blocking battle was fought so beautifully.
Shang Kexi's final explanation finally cleared up Li Weiluan's doubts, "Most of the Jianlu prisoners were poisoned and exhausted. It was a good opportunity to pursue them and attack them from the front and back with Deputy Commander Chen's troops to annihilate the remaining enemies."
"
Li Weiluan nodded vigorously. Although the troops had a hard time traveling, they could not miss the good opportunity to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds.
"General Li." Guo Dajing came over and said hello, "Have a meal and rest for an hour before setting off. General Shang and I will lead a thousand soldiers to follow Jianlu first."
"We will set off after dinner." Li Weiluan waved his hand and said, "You go first, I will catch up with my troops soon."
Shang Kexi advised from the side: "Don't worry, let the soldiers take a rest. Don't be so tired that you lose strength when fighting Jianlu."
"About half an hour!" Guo Dajing said with a smile: "We pushed the cart along the road, but we didn't go very fast."
Exercising right after eating can easily lead to appendicitis. Guo Dajing was worried about this, but it was not entirely about the soldiers' physical strength.