On March 19th in the second year of Wanli, Wang Gao led his army out of the green mountains and stormed Tianshui Fort. Although more than 400 Ming troops resisted desperately, they went crazy after being without food for a day.
Under the combined attack of the two captives, the fort wall was breached after three hours, and more than 1,200 soldiers and civilians in the fort were massacred.
The desperate resistance at Tianshui Fort and the subsequent looting greatly slowed down Wang Gao's progress. On March 22, the main force of the Ming army that followed was less than twenty miles away from Wang Gao, and the scouts from both sides began to strangle each other.
The Tartars had already penetrated deep into the Ming Realm. Although he had expected this situation when he chose this path, Wang Gao still went crazy when the noose was really wrapped around his neck. He kept thinking about whether Li Chengliang could use it in turn.
He used his prediction of the Liaodong Army's tactics to lure him into the trap.
Facts have proved that passing through the Liaoyang Guard was a huge mistake that could wipe out his entire army. After Wang Gao organized his army and headed north to enter the Liaoyang Guard, none of the scouts who had gone out at dawn returned for more than an hour.
Wang Gao, who has been fighting for many years, knows that what is coming has finally come.
At this time, the army was marching on a small piece of wilderness. In front of it was Weiming Mountain to the northwest and Wuding Mountain to the southeast. It was surrounded by hills, which was not conducive to cavalry deployment. An official road in the field led to Hupi Post. Wang Gao wanted to execute
The plan to cross Liaoyang and enter the Hetao from the west wall must quickly pass through the thirty-five-mile official road - can the Ming army still give him a chance?
After another time of burning incense, a scout finally returned covered in blood and reported: "Mafa, the ten miles of official road ahead are blocked by the army and infantry. There is a row of resisting horses, and the number of people can be 3,000.
"
After hearing this, a group of Tatars laughed and said, how long can 3,000 infantry troops hold back my 7,000 cavalry troops? But they rushed past! After hearing this, Wang Gao shouted: "At this time, as long as we are blocked for two or three hours, Li Chengliang's army can
Come up from the back pocket, what will you do then?"
He also asked the scout, how was the field beside the official road? Can it be used for horse racing? The scout vomited a mouthful of blood and then replied: "Mafa, the Ming army diverted water from the river and soaked the surrounding fields for who knows how many days. Now the ground is covered with water.
It's so muddy that the horse can't run even if it's in it." After hearing this, all the captives took a breath of cold air.
Wang Gao calmed down and mobilized: "Everyone, you have to fight hard at this time. There are infantry blocking the way in front. If you rush over, you will survive. If you can't rush over, the whole army will be wiped out! I, the Jianzhou soldiers, are in the vanguard, Tumut, and Taining will follow.
, we must kill it!"
After hearing this, all the captives didn't say a word and organized their horse teams. The cavalry all dismounted and walked to save their horse power. As the soldiers walked, they took out the beans they snatched from the dry food bags and took the time to feed the horses. They also chewed the dry food and drank some.
water, and arrange weapons.
After walking for half an hour, the vanguard saw that the fields beside the official road were wet, and knew that they were about to arrive at the blocking area of the Ming army. Along the official road, they passed a low hill covered with shrubs, and the army stopped -
-Three miles away, the Ming army formed three military formations in the official road and in the fields on both sides to block the way.
At this time, Wang Gao looked back on his horse and saw smoke and dust faintly visible in the distance behind the army. He guessed that Li Chengliang's army was about to arrive on the battlefield. He pulled out his saber, pointed forward and said: "There is no time, charge!" The soldiers on the side took it.
The horns of the bull came out and the whistle was blown, and the world was suddenly filled with a murderous atmosphere.
Because the official army could not deploy a large army, most of the cavalry could only stand on horseback in the field to form a team. In the first wave, there were six horizontal lines, each team had more than 50 cavalry, and a total of more than 300 cavalry clamped down on the horse's belly, holding bows and arrows.
Charge forward.
In the second phalanx on the opposite side, Li Rusong was riding on a horse, surrounded by a hundred people in brocade and a group of soldiers. Seeing the Tartar cavalry begin to charge, he calmly ordered: "Move my flag to the front line!"
After saying that, he urged his horse forward and entered the rear of the first square formation.
With just a few breaths, the cavalry from three miles away arrived in an instant. When the Tartars rushed 150 steps in front of the formation, half of the cavalry in the first row stumbled, and those who fell fell to their feet with a tragic hiss. It turned out that the Ming army was digging in on the road.
Got into a lot of traps.
The horse trap dug by the Liaodong Army was particularly dirty. It was not a large horse trap that was several feet long, wide and deep, but a small hole the size of a sea bowl and less than half a foot deep. It was dug densely in front of the horse and was covered with branches, grass and leaves.
Cover it and sprinkle it with soil, and it will look like normal ground. But if the unlucky horse steps on it, its front legs will be broken. The cavalry will fly high and fall to the ground. Even if they don't die, they will lose most of their lives.
The official road was no more than three feet wide. After the Tartar cavalry charged, because the horses on the official road ran fast and the horses in the fields on the roadside ran slower, they naturally formed a cone-shaped formation. At this time, the top of the cone-shaped assault formation had already turned upside down.
The entire offensive slowed down. When the Ming soldiers standing in the front row saw it, their hearts that were beating violently with the sound of the snare drum slowed down.
Hearing the sound of a big drum from the Chinese army, the Ming army in the front row pressed the end of a more than ten feet long spear on their shoulders against the ground, and placed the front section diagonally on the horse. Immediately, like a porcupine, appeared in front of the infantry square.
Seeing the dense jungle of spears from a distance, Wang Gao's scalp felt numb.
The Jianzhou soldiers did not use the momentum of their horses to collide with the phalanx, but still used mounted shooting tactics: when they approached the phalanx fifty steps, they moved their horses sideways and at the same time sprinkled a hail of arrows at the infantry.
Unexpectedly, the Ming army did not use the firearms they were good at. Instead, they heard a trumpet sound from the Chinese army. The archers behind the front row of infantry also threw a wave of arrows at the cavalry. At the same time, all the infantry raised their small round shields to block the phalanx.
Diagonally above.
This formation of Jianzhou soldiers has never been seen in the Liaodong Army. In the previous battles between the two armies, the Ming army infantry and the Tartar cavalry rarely fought in the field. There was at least a village wall or vehicle formation between the two armies, and the Ming army hid in the village.
It is a common way to use firearms behind a wall or vehicle array.
Unexpectedly, although the Ming infantry they encountered this time did not set up a vehicle formation and only used spears and bows, their defensive and counterattacks were also well-organized, and they were on par with the strong cavalry Jianzhou soldiers.
The two sides were going back and forth in front of the formation, and the ground was full of arrows. The Tatar cavalry could move, and the Ming infantry could hold their shields firmly. The casualty ratio between the two sides gradually reached two to one, that is, two Ming troops exchanged for Tatars.
Capture a cavalryman.
However, when the Ming army was in the square formation and was injured by an arrow, someone quickly took over the position, and the wounded could immediately be withdrawn to the rear formation to deal with the injury. The cavalry on the horse did not have such a good thing, and could only bend down on the horse and withdraw from the battlefield.
Some of the horses were hit by arrows, and they even rushed and messed up the charging formation.
Wang Gao mobilized his troops and generals and charged three times. Seeing that the phalanx's feet had not loosened, he gradually became impatient. If he was given two or three hours, and the Ming army was small in number, he would slowly use cavalry and archery to kill them.
, the formation can be broken with little loss, but time is tight at this time, and there is no room for slow preparation.
The soldiers who went to the rear team to conduct reconnaissance returned to the central army and reported in a low voice: "Mafa, the cavalry behind us is less than five miles away from us and will arrive in an instant."
Wang Gao knew that life and death depended on this, so he personally picked up the horns and blew them hard. He then waved his scimitar and commanded: "If you don't ride and shoot, charge into the formation!"
The Jianzhou cavalry in the front row received the order and made a roaring sound like a roar of a wild beast. They put down the blindfold on the horse's forehead, blindfolded the horse and rushed to high speed, ramming diagonally into the Juma full of spears.
When the horses and men were about to hit the tip of the spear, the Tatars immediately twisted their bodies with all their strength, hoping to get into the gap in the spear array. At this time, the Ming army, who was pressing the spear with his body, also drew out his three-eyed gun and lit the match.
Fight against the cavalry that rushes up.
A war horse weighed nearly a thousand kilograms with its rider, and coupled with the high speed it charged, even though the front row of horse-repelling stakes were buried deep in the soil, it was hit by the cavalry dozens of times and almost fell apart in many places.
At this moment, both sides were red-eyed. Between the lines, blood and flesh were flying everywhere, crying fathers and mothers shouting in pain, and grass fathers and mothers yelling and cursing. Accompanied by the loud noise of firearms and the sound of golden drums and horns, it was shocking.
At the cost of the death of more than a hundred cavalry, the Ming army's first row of horse and spear formations finally broke through a few holes. Seeing that almost all of his death squads were killed, Wang Gao clenched his teeth in pain, and the flesh on his cheeks
Ling Zi raised Lao Gao.
Su Bahai did not expect that his good Mongol Khan would actually fall into death. At this time, he did not care about conserving his strength and ordered the Tumut cavalry to enter through the gap to kill the Ming army.
At this time, the front line to meet the enemy were all elite soldiers of the Li family. Although they saw a gap in the front line, they did not panic. When they listened to the order from the army, the spearmen in the second and third rows rushed forward a few steps.
They went all out to keep the array intact, and those guarding the rear continued to fire arrows and three-eyed muskets.
Wang Gao saw that the infantry of the opponent's first phalanx was getting weaker and weaker, but still did not collapse. At the same time, the soldiers of the second phalanx began to hold back the horses in front of him. His heart became cold, knowing that he had been tricked by the opposite general.
When Wang Gao first saw the opponent's 3,000-strong army formation, the opponent only had a row of horses and spears, and no common chariot formation, which gave him a feeling that the formation could be broken.
When the attack started and the Ma army was trapped in a wave of traps, he had a bad premonition: The Ming army had time to dig holes, but no time to set up a chariot formation?
But at that time, he was still lucky, thinking that the Ming army did not bring chariots, which was not impossible. When the mounted shooting started, the Ming army actually did not use firearms, which made Wang Gao more lucky. Could it be that they had firearms?
Didn't bring it either?
As a result, after the cavalry shooting was completed, the Ming army used the spear formation; the spear formation was about to be broken, and the familiar three-eyed blunderbuss also appeared; the first phalanx was about to be broken up, and the second phalanx was deployed again, what the hell are you doing?
What does it mean to hide a horse behind a flag in a battle?