Li Weiluan commanded the soldiers of the Right Association to accelerate forward, and after leveling up with the Front Association, he immediately launched a fierce attack and gave Jianlu a heavy blow on the flank.
Several small infantry battle formations were spread out almost flat, using a musket fire method similar to line tactics. On a wide front, they charged diagonally towards the prisoners, spraying out dense lead bullets.
Three rows of musketeers advanced, fired, loaded, changed positions, and fired continuously. The sound of gunfire was like exploding beans and seemed to never stop.
This was a decisive blow. The troops had an overwhelming advantage, as did the firepower.
The Jianlu cavalry could no longer take advantage of their speed and impact. Under attack from two sides, they were immediately submerged in the smoke of the explosion and the hail of lead bullets.
Mao Chenglu also immediately threw in a battalion of fresh troops. The musketeers who had been preparing for a long time rushed out and used continuous shooting to completely curb Jianlu's already weak attack and beat Jianlu back steadily.
After asking for a hammer, the battle finally turned into a melee, which was what Jianlu had hoped for. But the result was completely different. Jianlu continued to retreat. There were gunshots everywhere, shining lights, and rising white smoke.
Azig did not send any more reinforcements, but issued an order to retreat. On the pillow and chaotic battlefield, it was difficult for the cavalry to be effective.
He abandoned his horse and continued to fight with the enemy. If all the men and horses of the mobile corps were present, Azig would dare to give it a try.
But now, fighting with infantry, the enemy has obvious advantages in strength and firepower. Moreover, this battlefield has been destroyed, and there are too many obstacles to the cavalry.
The casualties were nearly 3,000, and Azig was heartbroken. Even a casualty ratio of one to one, or one to two, was definitely not a price he could bear.
The original plan was for 20,000 elite cavalry to defeat 10,000 landing enemies, but now it has become 20,000 enemies to surround 10,000 own troops.
Another reason for Azig's unwillingness to pay too many casualties was Dorgon's secret instructions to preserve the strength of the mobile corps as much as possible and return to Shenyang if nothing could be done. The green hills were left, and there was no need to worry about running out of firewood.
To put it bluntly, the mobile corps led by Azig needs to be flexible in action. It does not have the same plan or the same requirements as Hauge who defends Liaoyang City.
Hauge could defend his position, but if he couldn't, he would die. Dorgon did not arrange a way out for him, and he regarded the defenders as a bargaining chip to win or lose.
Dorgon was well aware of the bad situation in Houjin. He wanted to take a gamble but could not lose everything. Dorgon hoped to preserve the 20,000 elite cavalry of the Mobile Corps as much as possible.
Azig led his troops to retreat, widening the distance from the enemy. He was really afraid of being bombarded by long-range artillery fire, and was completely passive in being beaten, which was depressing.
The sentinel once again sent information about Sobodo's troops, and they fought several times with the enemy cavalry. Sobodo's troops were at a disadvantage and suffered heavy casualties.
Seeing that there was no hope of reinforcements led by Sobodo, Azig was helpless and sad.
After the enemy reorganized in front of them, they pushed forward again. Whether to fight or retreat, Azig was in a dilemma.
There is not much time left for him. In another thirty to forty miles, the enemy will be able to reach the pontoon bridge. After a bombardment, the mobile corps will be trapped in this Liaoyang area.
With selfish distractions, Azig no longer put Liaoyang's friendly forces first, but thought about how to preserve the strength of the mobile corps as much as possible.
If the mobile corps was brought into Liaoyang City and lived or died with the city, Azige had no idea. Regardless of whether Liaoyang could be defended or not, he felt that he had fulfilled his responsibility.
It's not that he abandoned his friendly forces, but that the enemy was too strong; it wasn't that he refused to defend Liaoyang, but that his hope was too slim.
"Yasiha, you lead 3,000 troops to the pontoon bridge to prepare for our army to cross the river." Azig called his trusted generals and explained in a deep voice.
"My slave understands." Yasiha already knew the bottom line and mission of the mobile corps. He accepted the order without hesitation and galloped away with three thousand cavalry.
"Go and notify Sobodo, let him get rid of the enemy and lead his troops closer to the pontoon." Azig summoned the communications troops again and issued the order.
Getting rid of the enemy sounds good, and sacrificing the men and horses in the rear may be able to escape unscathed. Azig's side is even better, facing infantry, and can use the speed of the cavalry.
After Yasiha led his troops to leave, Azig led thousands of cavalry to monitor the opponent's actions.
Not allowing the enemy to accelerate forward without any scruples, but also dreaming of finding the opponent's weaknesses and inflicting heavy damage on the enemy to save some face.
"The enemy's battle formation is thick and rigorous, and the artillery is deployed quickly, making it difficult to win by surprise." After observing for a long time, Azig had to sigh and said regretfully: "If the forces were equal, we could still give it a try."
Oreb rolled his eyes and said with some disdain: "Relying on long-range artillery, there is no bravery in combat at all. They are all cowards."
What a coward?! Azig smiled bitterly, it felt so painful to be defeated by a coward.
But what Oreb said was also the excuse he wanted to find. Facing the fierce artillery fire and seeing the large number of casualties among the warriors who had experienced many battles, the feeling of powerlessness really made people feel both resentful and desperate.
They didn't know the saying "Times have changed", but they just thought that the Dongjiang Army would only fight through crooked doors and ramparts, and did not dare to fight openly and openly.
It's ridiculous. Is it true that fighting according to their combat model and making them convinced of their defeat is victory?
How can Guo Dajing be so stupid? He just wants to let Jianlu see the power of technology. Using one's own strengths to attack the enemy's shortcomings is always the most advantageous tactic and will make him feel happy.
The infantry of the Dongjiang Army are still advancing forward, and the mortars and rockets are behind the infantry battle formation. As long as the Jianlu come into range, they will bombard them, causing continuous pressure and deterrence to the Jianlu.
The light Fran cannon also has its own gun carriage, which is pushed in front of the infantry battle formation and remains ready to fire and bombard at any time.
Field artillery was not equipped to the landing troops because they were likely to clash with the Jianlu cavalry. The firing speed of the Fran cannon and the area damage of the shotgun shells were quite effective against the cavalry.
The former Concorde and the Right Concorde were also equipped with the majority of rockets, which were easy to carry and fired quickly. One launch vehicle contained more than a dozen rockets, which were more densely packed than mortars.
In short, weapons and equipment adopt different emphases according to the tasks performed by each department.
The main force under Liaoyang City was mainly equipped with field artillery and mortars, as well as Hongyi cannon used to bombard the city walls.
"Jianlu is no longer able to fight anymore. Our army can just fight steadily and advance steadily." After Mao Chenglu met with Li Weiluan, they held a brief discussion.
Li Weiluan agreed with this and said: "This is only half of the Jianlu elite cavalry. It is not ruled out that another 10,000 horses will come to support. Although the flying cavalry will restrain them, we cannot imagine it being too easy."
Mao Chenglu nodded repeatedly and said: "Only half of the Jianlu came, which means that the flying cavalry has already played its role. The Jianlu dare not come with the whole army. But we still have to make complete preparations to complete the mission."
"Then our department will go first this time. After all, the officers and soldiers of the former Association experienced fierce battles and suffered greater losses than our department." Li Weiluan suggested proactively, "What does General Mao think?"
"Thank you so much, General Li." Mao Chenglu didn't fight. This was a battle between two alliances. It didn't matter who came first and who came last.
The Right Association accelerated its advance and was nearly a mile ahead of the Front Association. The Front Association continued to advance close to the river bank, with naval forces and friendly forces guarding both wings, greatly increasing safety.
The navy was not idle either. It not only transported the wounded and bodies back to the ship, but also delivered a large amount of ammunition and supplies to the troops ashore.
Despite the support of the troops on the shore, the navy was still cautious in sailing. The main reason was that it was not familiar with the water conditions of the river, and the reconnaissance had never reached this depth.
The reconnaissance ship in front was constantly measuring the water depth and detecting obstacles in the water. Although Jianlu did not have a navy, there were ships and wooden piles were placed in the river, which needed to be cleared and removed.
Therefore, although the navy sailed in the river, its speed was not very fast, and it basically kept pace with the infantry.
"After completing the task of crossing the Taizi River, we will go up the Hun River and go straight to Shenyang." Zhang Tao sat on the boat, looked ahead, and said nonchalantly: "I don't know which troops will follow the boat.
Go and occupy Shenyang."
Yang Mingli, Guo Dajing's former captain of the personal army, was assigned to the navy by him and has been at Zhang Tao's side. At this time, he smiled and said: "No matter which alliance we have, our navy has made great achievements, but we can't escape."
."
After a pause, he added: "Logistical support depends entirely on our navy to enable the various ministries to regain the entire Liao Dynasty. Unfortunately, the time is a little short, and we have to withdraw from the inland river in winter."
Zhang Tao nodded and said: "There is nothing we can do about it. If the war goes smoothly, there will be enough time. If Jianlu loses Liaoshen, it will be a complete failure. A certain family feels that there is no need to rush to occupy too remote areas.
The land of Liaodong."
According to the Liaodong territory at that time, the northernmost part was Qingyang Fort in Anle Prefecture, which was the Changtu area in later generations. A few dozen miles further north was Siping in later generations. At that time, there was not even an accurate place name.
Zhang Tao meant to suspend this year's military operations after taking Shenyang. On the one hand, it was enough to declare that Liaodong was pacified, but on the other hand, it would be very expensive to station the army.
The grain and grass supplies base in Dongjiang Town is in southern Liaoning. If water transportation is not possible in winter and all transportation is relied on land, the pressure will be great.
Although it is possible to obtain some food and supplies in the occupied areas of Jianlu, this is an uncertain amount. It is optimistically estimated that it will not be too much.
When the rivers thaw and water transportation resumes next spring and summer, whether it is the Hun River water transportation to Shenyang or Fushun, or the Taizi River water transportation to Liaoyang or Benxi, or even sailing farther, the logistics will be fully guaranteed.
According to Zhang Tao's idea, he sent 20,000 troops to Shenyang, and the Jianlu, who were defeated and fled north, would not dare to counterattack no matter what.
"Shuai Guo has thought carefully and there should be some arrangements." Yang Mingli said: "Whether it is conquering Liaoyang or recovering Shenyang, in my opinion, the credit is great enough and can be explained to the imperial court."
Zhang Tao glanced at Yang Mingli, smiled, and did not go further on this topic.
Guo Dajing's battle plan is to pacify Liaoshen this year. Of course, this is if everything goes well. The minimum is to regain Liaoyang and eliminate nearly half of the Jianlu army.
This minimum limit is actually very easy to achieve. If the main force in southern Liaoning is added to the front and right associations, and the Fei Biao regiment is transferred from Liaodong, it will be difficult for Jianlu to hold on.
However, Liaoyang was easy to gain and could not annihilate the effective forces of Jianlu, so it was not a complete victory after all.
Therefore, we mobilized more points and encircled Liaoyang. It seemed that the troops were somewhat scattered, but in each battlefield, we used more to defeat less, and we were able to eliminate the captives to the greatest extent.
So far, the combat plan is close to success. Even if Zhang Tao does not know that Benxi and Lianshanguan have been breached, it should not be a problem for the navy and the two associations to cut off Liaoyang's retreat to the north.
If the Liaoyang Jianlu captives choose to escape back to Shenyang via Benxi in the west, they will take a detour and take a long time. Guo Dajing can lead the main force across the Taizi River and advance along the Hun River by water and land, approaching Shenyang.
In Zhang Tao's view, this result will not change much, it will just lead to another decisive battle in Shenyang.
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If Jianlu was determined to hold on to Shenyang, he would be putting his life and death on the line.
Zhang Tao believed that Jianlu would not make such a decisive move, and would probably flee northward, or like Liaoyang, leave only some troops to stand firm and wait for change.
"The decisive battle in Shenyang?" Zhang Tao suddenly thought of something and couldn't help but purse his lips and smile, "The old slave's grave will be dug up, and it will be difficult to put it in the ground!"
The main reason why Jianlu did not place the decisive battle in Shenyang was mainly for this reason.
In ancient times, opening a tomb and opening a coffin was a huge event. Dorgon did not dare to do this for the time being, because it would be a heavy blow to his own prestige and the morale of the people.
Therefore, even though the decisive battle in Shenyang can extend the Dongjiang Army's supply line, it is an advantage for Jianlu.
Of course, if the decisive battle was to be fought in Shenyang, Jianlu would have to relocate a large number of people. Dorgon also did not have the courage, and Hou Jin could not withstand such a toss.
Only when Liaoyang fell and the defeat was certain, Dorgon would have enough reasons to make the decision to flee north, and get the recognition and cooperation of other Houjin senior officials.
"Unfortunately, in his hesitation, Jianlu has lost his only chance to win." Zhang Tao narrowed his eyes, looked at the shimmering river surface, and sneered.
In fact, in this battle launched by the Dongjiang Army, the Jianlu had almost no chance of winning. However, they were still struggling to support themselves with a trace of luck.
It's like a pig being dragged to the slaughterhouse. It has been tied tightly and is about to be killed with a knife. It still screams in vain a few times.
Azig led his troops to retreat closer and closer to the pontoon bridge, while the 10,000 elite cavalry led by Sobodo were engaged in a bitter battle.
In the vast wilderness, groups of cavalry were galloping across the field, raising smoke and dust all over the sky. The shouts of killing shook the sky, and the earth was like beating drums, constantly trembling and shaking.
Soboduo led 10,000 Jianlu to coordinate outside Liaoyang City, but he did not expect that 20,000 Dongjiang Army cavalry would suddenly attack him. Even after he received the order from Azige for reinforcements, the enemy entangled and fought more fiercely.