Not long after, the commanders of both armies received relatively satisfactory returns from their horse inspections.
Burihatu "got his wish" and learned that there was indeed an ambush of thousands of Ming army cavalry on the back of the crater west of Lightning Lake. It looked like they were planning to take advantage of the chaos to rush down the mountain and flank Chaha during the confrontation between the two armies.
Right wing of the Mongolian army.
Although the cavalry is known as the killer on the plains, in fact, the most suitable terrain for the cavalry is to rush down the mountain from the mountain, because with the blessing of the downhill, the impact of the cavalry will be almost doubled.
Regarding this point, not only real cavalry experts such as Bu Rihatu and Buyan Huang Taiji know it clearly, but even highly pragmatic people understand the reason - this aspect is almost clearly reflected in some famous games of later generations.
However, Gao pragmatically placed this cavalry on the back of the mountain because he expected that the other party would be suspicious of the crater, and he did so in order to cover up his true intentions. It was natural for Burihatu to see through such an arrangement.
As expected.
To a certain extent, this was Gao Pragmatic's "I predicted your prediction". So when he saw that the right wing of Chaharmon army with thousands of people did not form an array, but instead
As he slowly patrolled the right wing, he couldn't help but smile slightly.
There is a point in not forming a formation on the right wing of the Chahar Mongolian army: the ambush troops of the Ming army were all half-armored cavalry. If they really rushed down from the mountain and killed them, it would obviously be extremely unwise for the lightly armored Mongolian army to choose a head-on collision, so they
Just "shuttle patrol".
If this kind of shuttle patrol is described in the terms of later generations, it is actually to keep the horses in a "warm-up completed" state and ready for activities such as speeding up at any time. The tactics of the Chahar Mongolian Army are also obvious at this point: I maintain that I can maneuver at high speed at any time
In this state, as long as you dare to rush down and attack the flank of my army, I will dare to use my speed advantage to turn the battle into a situation where I attack your own flank, the ambush force.
The satisfaction of Burihatu and Buyan Huangtaiji at this moment comes from this, which is equivalent to "sealing" the ambush arranged by Gao pragmatically in advance.
The satisfaction of the highly pragmatic side, in addition to "I predicted your prediction", also has two other points. The first is that although the opponent's army clearly wore nine-pin white banners, miraculously no Tumen appeared.
The Khan flag of the Khan himself.
Theoretically speaking, only the Great Khan of Mongolia can use the Nine-pin White Banner. At that time, the left-wing Mongol Dalai Xunkuden Khan was afraid of being annexed by Anda, so he led his 100,000 troops to move south and moved their herds to the southeastern half of the Greater Khingan Mountains. Right here.
When Zhong'anda's forces dominated all the Mongolian tribes, they had never produced the Nine White Banners, let alone the current Bahan Naji.
Therefore, the Chahar army displayed nine white banners but no Tumen flag, which meant that the commander-in-chief of the army in front of him gained a status similar to that of Muhuali back then.
What was Muhuali's status back then? What Genghis Khan said to Muhuali was: "To the north of Taihang, I will manage it myself. To the south of Taihang, you will encourage it."
The two people talking privately was not enough, Genghis Khan publicly announced: "Muhuali built this flag to give orders, as if I were here in person." He gave Muhuali enough real power, and the latter was named a grand master, king, whatever.
The province took charge of the affairs, commanded all the Mongolian troops in the Jin Kingdom, and had full authority to deal with the affairs of the war with the Jin Kingdom.
Among the tens of thousands of households in Chahar Central of the Mongolian Khanate today, who has such prestige and ability that Tumen can give him the same power as Muhuali did back then? Naturally, only Burihatu is the only one.
Therefore, in Gao Pragmatic's view, the presence of the Nine White Banner but no Tumen Khan flag among the Chahar Mongolian Army means that the leader of this army must be Buri Hatu. As for the flag of Buyan Huang Taiji, to be honest
...Gao Pragmatic almost didn't care.
The second point that Gao Pragmatic is satisfied with is the number of the Chahar Mongolian army. The current total Chahar army is about 60,000, and the number who appears within the scope of his own detective horse investigation at this time is only about 20,000, which is more than his management headquarters.
The number of troops at this moment is still several thousand short.
Everyone loves to watch decisive battles in which fewer people win over more, such as the Battle of Julu, the Battle of Guandu, the Battle of Chibi, the Battle of Feishui, and the Tang Dynasty's War to Defeat Eastern Turks, which are the most popular ones in later generations. It seems that only victory with less can win more people.
It's legendary enough. Gao Pragmatic himself also likes to read this kind of history, but that doesn't affect his choice to do the opposite every time when he personally directs.
It is legendary to win with less, but what if you lose? What's more, most of the historical victories with less were actually due to insufficient strength, so they were forced to use less to defeat more.
, if the strength is sufficient, who is willing to fight with a small number against a large number?
Of course, Li Jing's performance may be an exception...but he is Li Jing, and he can't compare with his high pragmatism.
Now that the situation seems clearer, let's start with the military side.
There are about 28,000 cavalrymen in the Jinglue Headquarters. Among them, a relatively independent cavalry force of about 5,000 people is "ambushed" on the back of the crater. This ambush is actually divided into two groups, led by guerrilla generals Jin Bingyue in Hejian and Baoding.
Two Cheying guerrilla generals, Tong Yangzhong, led their respective headquarters, with Jin Bingyue on the left and Tong Yangzhong on the right.
Since ancient times, China has divided official positions into left and right, with left and right hiding the hierarchy, that is, who has the final say. However, in ancient China, the status of left or right was not static. In different periods, eras and different fields,
Depending on the occasion, there are different regulations.
From the Pre-Qin Dynasty to the Western Han Dynasty, the right was generally respected, but not absolutely. The Pre-Qin and Qin Dynasties focused on respecting the left, and the Western Han Dynasty focused more on respecting the right. From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Tang and Song Dynasties, China gradually formed a system that respected the left. After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty,
, it is stipulated that the right is respected.
Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, reformed the Yuan system and respected the left. This system was used in the Ming Dynasty and was used in the Qing Dynasty for more than 500 years. Classical plays based on the Ming and Qing Dynasties were performed on the theater stages in later generations. Guests and elders always sat
On the left side of the master and the younger generation, it reflects the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty advocating the left.
Of course, there are simpler ways to distinguish. For example, the ministers of various ministries in the Ming Dynasty are all left ministers, whose status is slightly higher than that of the right minister. In the Fifth Army Commandery, the left governor is slightly higher than the right governor. This is a typical case of respecting the left.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! In addition to this separate force pretending to be an ambush, the main force of 23,000 people led by Gao Pragmatic is still led by Ye Bangrong as the central army, Changping guerrilla general Zhao Menglin, and Xuan Mansion are stationed in the camp.
Guishuo's troops are on the right wing, the guerrilla general Xu Long from the left camp under the general command of Ji Town, Wu Sixun, the leading guerrilla general in Dingzhou, are on the left wing, and the Tianjin coastal defense guerrilla general Chen Can is behind the troops.
Generally speaking, this arrangement is relatively stable, and there is no emphasis on it. On the contrary, the rear army led by Chen Can has few troops and has not had many opportunities for actual combat in the past. It seems to be a weakness.
However, due to the terrain, it would be difficult for Chen Can's troops to participate in the battle under normal circumstances - his location is almost at the northwest exit of the Lightning Lake Valley, with mountains on both sides.
On the mountain on the left is Tong Yangzhong, who is ambushing the right wing of the army. There is almost no one on the mountain on the right. There are only a few Ming army lookouts that he sent troops to take over. In this way, although Chen Can only has 2,000 people, the Ming army is behind
Since there is no threat, there can be no danger.
The Chahar-Mongolian army on the Burihatu side may have a slight shortage of troops, but there is an obvious tendency in the formation.
First of all, the mobile cavalry he used to defend against the Ming army's ambush only had about 3,000 men. Although there were at least 1,000 Baiying personal guards among them, these Baiying personal guards were actually somewhat watery.
Originally, only the personal guards of the Great Khan could use the white tassel according to the standards of the Jiu'an Baiqi, but Tumen's health has been obviously weakened recently. In order to ensure that he would be safe and train successors, he not only handed over the power to hold the Jiu'an Baiqi.
It was given to Burihatu, and also to Burihatu and Buyan Huangtaiji, a standard of 1,000 men each, and allowed them to establish Baiying personal guards.
In the past, as the personal guards of the Great Khan, the weapons and equipment standards of the Baiying Guards were higher than those of the ordinary Mongolian army. However, the current situation is critical and these conditions are difficult to meet at the moment. Tumen can only try to allocate some of them to them.
As a result, the Baiying personal guards in the hands of Bu Rihatu and Buyan Huang Taiji are obviously inferior in appearance compared to the real Baiying personal guards.
Of course, although the appearance is not that good, it is hard to say in terms of combat effectiveness. Because Buyan Huang Taiji was approved to establish the Baiying personal guard, he saw that the possibility of inheriting the throne has been greatly improved, although there is nothing good in terms of supplies for the time being.
There are many ways to think of it, but he was particularly diligent in selecting personnel, selecting the best from his own ministries, and finally selected these one thousand people.
But Burihatu's side is relatively simple. He didn't have many people under him when he defected to Tumen, but every one of them can be said to be his father's loyal supporter back then, and their loyalty to him is unquestionable.
Later, because he gained more and more trust from Tumen Khan, he gave some prisoners of war, defectors from other Mongolian tribes, etc. to Burihatu, so that Burihatu had a direct subordinate of about 2,000 people.
In terms of Burihatu's actual status in the Chahar tribe, two thousand people is indeed not powerful, let alone too many. However, in the final analysis, this is because Burihatu's political status is too high, and he is actually superior to Chahar.
Internally speaking, being able to control two thousand people is not that small, it can even be said to be quite powerful.
However, the real strength of Burihatu has never been in his military strength, but in his wisdom. As a famous general who is good at learning from his opponents, Burihatu's troops are well trained and do not completely rely on the Mongolians' almost innate ability.
Riding and shooting skills.
He has studied the characteristics of the Ming army very carefully, especially the various reforms of the Ming army in infantry and cavalry in recent years. He has paid close attention to them and has been thinking about how to deal with them.
The infantry of the Ming army mainly relied on the hollow square formation of muskets and bayonets. In essence, this formation was not absolutely indestructible in the eyes of Burihatu. For example, the reason why the bayonet formation made the horses dare not rush into the formation was because the horses
They are intelligent creatures. They inherently know that those shining bayonets will kill them if they hit them. Therefore, as long as they judge that they cannot cross them, they will avoid them.
However, it is not difficult to solve this problem: blindfolding the horses can be done. After blindfolding the horses, the Mongolian cavalry still had enough horse control skills to control the horses and fight in an orderly manner.
But a method is a method. If this method is to be put into practice, there is an unavoidable question: How many casualties are the Mongolian army willing to pay in order to break through the front line?
This raises another question: Can the Ming army's hollow phalanx only have one line of defense? Obviously not. As long as the opponent is well-trained, after discovering that the Mongolian army blindfolded the war horse, the defense line may be immediately strengthened and placed.
Create a second, third or even higher level of defense.
At this time, is the attrition-fighting style of blindfolded charging really suitable for the Mongols? I'm afraid it can't be said, because the number of Ming army infantry is basically unlimited in the eyes of the Mongols. They have hundreds of millions of people.
What if I finish the 100,000 and then make up another 100,000?
But what about Mongolia? After fighting for 100,000 people? It’s a joke. The whole Chahar army only has more than 60,000 people.
Women, children and ordinary herdsmen will be eaten cleanly immediately.
As for whether they were eaten by the Mongolian tribes such as Tumut or the Jurchens, it made no difference to them - maybe being swallowed by the Ming Dynasty was the best way out.
Therefore, for Burihatu, Gao Pragmatic's famous musket-bayonet hollow phalanx is not really indestructible, but the consumption required to break it is simply unbearable. Gao Pragmatic's hand is serious in Burihatu.
Zhong Yangmou: If you have the ability, come and compete with me, Da Ming.
I'm a fool to compete with your Ming Dynasty in terms of military strength! Therefore, the Chahar-Mongolian army gradually became lightly armored or even unarmored. Firstly, it was because the economy was blocked and it could no longer support military manufacturing. Secondly, it was because of the tactical necessity.
To change, we must return to the previous state of relying on speed. We don't want to kill many enemies, but we want to tire the enemy for a long time and drag the opponent until he can't fight.
What about infantry? What about cavalry?
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Burihatu also saw the changes in the Ming army’s cavalry in recent years. At the beginning, it grew wildly, mainly to increase the stock of horses and the number of cavalry;
Then came the weaponization, and began to equip Wanli II-type lances, but in the eyes of Burihatu, this had a big flaw: due to the problem of loading the lance, in actual combat, it was probably just an extra disposable musket.
Even the salvo itself had flaws.
What's the flaw? Not everyone can shoot. Muskets are different from bows and arrows. Bows and arrows can be thrown, but muskets can only shoot straight. For example, in the diagonal tactic, the Mongolian cavalry completes the diagonal cut, and all cavalry can shoot the bows in a parabola, allowing the arrows to shoot.
The arrow falls from the sky on the opponent's head;
The cavalry of the Ming Army cannot do this. Only the cavalry in the outermost row can shoot. Others cannot shoot, otherwise they may have to kill their comrades. Even though the Ming Army's firearms have made great progress, due to the small amount of bombs dropped per unit
If so much is used, the actual damage will naturally be greatly reduced.
Later, the Ming army seemed to have discovered this problem and began to become armored or semi-armored. This relied on money ability to forcibly change the balance of strength: Although I have fewer people who can shoot, it doesn't hurt much if you hit me now.
, if I hit you, you will either die or be injured. Should I hit you?
The result of this is that Burihatu discovered that the Ming cavalry was somewhat similar to the infantry: hard, but its pursuit ability was further reduced - it was called further because the Ming cavalry could not catch up before.
Mongolians determined to run away.
So in this way, both sides are actually strengthening their original advantages: the Ming army is stronger, and the Mongolian army is faster.
If I have to say, the Ming army spent at least one million taels of silver a year in order to be tougher, while the Mongolian army actually saved a lot of money in order to be faster. From the cost-effectiveness ratio, the Ming army was bigger
deficit.
However, there are prerequisites for this asymmetric advantage to work. For example, the Ming army sends troops and the Mongols guerrilla - or guerrilla without attacking. At this time, the Ming army seems to be menacing, but in fact the Mongolian army does not need to panic
, they can escape, just like the golden cicada escaped from its shell before.
But this also has a premise or a critical point, that is, if the Ming army sends too many troops and there are so many that they are surrounded from all directions and there is no place to run, then it will be over.
Just like this time.
But fortunately, the Ming army's goal was too big at the beginning, and they wanted to solve Chahar and Waikarkha at the same time once and for all. Later, because the golden cicada of Burihatu successfully escaped from its shell, Gao Pragmatic had to adjust his tactics and actually divided the entire battle situation into Waikarkha.
Erkha occupied and Chahar destroyed two parts.
But even Burihatu probably didn’t expect that Gao Pragmatism was actually divided into more details...
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PS: It crashed twice within 20 minutes. The first time the code words were 3K, and the second time it had reached 4K but the content was not finished yet. The second time it crashed, I couldn't restart it. I quickly opened the case and cleaned it, and finally it worked.
It's up, but actually I still have some content to say in this chapter. I was afraid that my computer would break down, so I posted it first and then talk about it later.