Chapter 276 Fa Yuan (Eighty Four) engages in battle
With more than 10,000 soldiers, there is no bounds. This may be a slight exaggeration, but when both sides of the war are cavalry and are deployed on the grassland, the momentum revealed in this sentence really makes a dream come true.
feeling.
The main force of the formation on the Chahar Mongolian army was 18,000, and the remaining 3,000 were sent to the right wing of the Ming army to patrol the crater. These 18,000 elite cavalry did not have uniform uniforms, and the equipment of the armor mainly depended on different statuses.
to divide.
The leaders all wear armor, and probably half of them are in the Ming army's standard, but it is also a bit confusing. There are old and new styles, such as hood armor, fish scale armor, Mingguang armor, and Shanwen armor.
From the perspective of clothing alone, the military appearance of the Chahar Mongolian Army is really not very impressive, but if you can clearly scan each person on the horse, you can see the fearlessness and even some dignity in their eyes.
If you show a fierce look, you can be sure: this is an elite army, they are eager to win and yearn for the catharsis after victory.
The main position of the Ming army appears more stable, with the central army and the left and right wings clearly distinguishable. No matter which part is uniformly dressed and armored, although officers of different ranks still have relatively clear distinctions in armor shapes,
But even the most ordinary cavalry soldiers are fully armored, not to mention the horses are also uniformly half-armored.
Looking from a distance, the Ming army's uniform black armor, silver, horse and red war robes can give people a silent deterrent. What is slightly beyond Gao Pangshi's expectation is that the faces of the Ming army cavalry soldiers also have a look on their faces.
Without fear, half of them looked determined and half were eager to try.
Excellent equipment can give people confidence. This seems to be the same in ancient times and today. Facing the Mongolian cavalry and the Ming cavalry, which were still able to overwhelm the Ming army ten years ago, but gradually showed lack of stamina after the Monan and Liaonan battles.
My self-confidence has also been quietly formed in a subtle way.
However, the previous victories were either achieved by the Tumut cavalry under the command of the late Totok Chatergyi, or by relying on the firearms of the Ming army infantry to fortify the formation. Facing the Mongolian cavalry, the Ming army cavalry itself achieved
There are still too few victories. Looking back for twenty years, the victory of cavalry against cavalry in the Ming Dynasty is always inseparable from two old commanders: Ma Fang and Li Chengliang.
If the Ming army cavalry wants to prove that the waves behind them can push the waves ahead, they need a new victory, a front-on victory over the Mongolian cavalry. Only in this way can they comfort their predecessors and live up to the times.
The main force of 23,000 people led by Gao pragmatism is still composed of Ye Bangrong's troops as the middle army, Changping guerrilla general Zhao Menglin, Xuanfu's camp Pogui's troops as the right wing, and Ji Zhen's general troops as the left camp guerrilla general Xu Long, Dingzhou
The leading guerrilla general Wu Sixun was on the left wing, and the Tianjin coastal defense guerrilla general Chen Can was on the rear army.
In this main formation composed of three lines on the left, center and right, the Chinese army is not strong. In addition to Ye Bangrong's more than 5,000 cavalry, there are 500 Jinghua cavalry brought by Gao Pragmatic himself. The entire army does not exceed six
Thousands of people.
Xu Long on the left is led by Wu Sixun. The former has more than 4,000 soldiers, and the latter has nearly 4,000 soldiers. The two sides have a total of about 8,000 soldiers. On the right, Zhao Menglin and Pogui have similar troops, but the two of them have more troops.
On average, both of them led four thousand soldiers and horses, and the total number was eight thousand.
There were 2,000 Chen Cans on the rear route, about 5,000 in the flanking crater, and the total Ming army was about 29,000. The error was due to the fact that the cavalry brought by Gao Pragmatic himself was not included in the original statistics.
This is a lineup with two wings that are stronger than the central army. Chahar can tell the clues at a glance. Perhaps because of this, the Chahar army's formation seems to be more focused on the two wings and more on the central army.
, the formations of both sides seemed to be reversed.
Roughly speaking, what Gao Jingshi presented to the Ming army was a typical wild goose formation. The so-called wild goose formation is a battle formation in which the left and right wings are spread out horizontally and arranged in steps forward or backward. As Gao Jingshi said at this moment
The layout, that is, the two wings are heavier and forward, which is a "V" shape, just like the arms of an ape stretching forward. It is usually a formation used to outflank and detour, but the defense at the rear is usually weak.
.
There is another style of wild goose formation, which is an arrangement in which the two wings are backward and the center is forward, which is an inverted "V" shape. This is usually to protect the safety of the two wings and rear and prevent the enemy from detouring.
However, generally speaking, due to the diversity of arms, if the two wings are equipped with relatively mobile cavalry, they can receive protection and support from the infantry in the center when stationary, and they can also exert the power of the attacking cavalry to increase surprise.
It is said that Alexander the Great's battle in India was similar to such a formation.
Of course, the latter formation has nothing to do with this moment. Gao Pragmatic's intention in setting up this formation is very obvious, which is to use both wings to carry out an outflanking attack.
In Burihatu's view, the wild goose formation put up by the Ming army was a perfect representation of Gao Jingshi's psychology at this moment, and it was also in line with his previous judgment. Gao Jingshi wanted to win a big victory and defeat Mongolia once and for all. Regardless of the previous
The encirclement strategy of pulling a net, or the flying geese-shaped outflanking tactic at this moment, are all direct manifestations of this mentality.
But Burihatu's reaction is also worth pondering. He did not put up a reverse wild goose formation that was more defensive, that is, the inverted V-shaped wild goose formation just mentioned, nor did he because of the strong strength of the two wings.
Strengthen its two wings. On the contrary, Burihatu's troop deployment concentrated the main force on the central army, but the two wings were somewhat weak.
In a war, when both sides have set up their battle formations, it is usually not difficult to judge the other side's intentions, and war is not a game. It is generally unrealistic to make major adjustments to the battle formations at short notice. Therefore, it can be said that at this moment both sides have already
After making a tactical decision, the next step is to look at the on-the-battle command of each army general and the courage and technical and tactical level of all soldiers.
However, after all, Burihatu is different from Gao Pragmatic. Gao knows hundreds of years of history, so he also knows that a seemingly wild goose-shaped formation that appeared in the middle and late Qing Dynasty actually has a different formation. Although one
At first, this formation was only used when the troops were relatively small, but Gao Qingshi found that it could also be used in full-cavalry battles on the grassland.
This is a battle formation with three teams arranged in parallel. The middle team has a small number of people and the two wings have a large number of people. It is shaped like a crab, so it is called the crab formation. A more elegant way of saying it is the crab claw formation. This formation is extremely flexible and also
It varies greatly depending on the enemy situation.
If the enemy is only divided into left and right groups, use the center of the formation to divide the left and right flanks, forming two groups.
If the enemy has one team at the front and one at the front, then combine the forwards of the left and right wings into one team, and combine the rear half of the left and right wings with the middle team to form a parallel line to support the front team;
If the enemy's left group has more soldiers, it will shift to the left formation; if the right group has more soldiers, it will shift to the right formation; if the enemy has four or five teams, it will also be divided into four or five teams to attack in sequence.
The formation of big crabs wrapped in small crabs is particularly famous. The method may be to engage the enemy in a small formation first, and then surround the enemy in a large formation, or to fake defeat to lure the enemy into pursuit, or to set up ambushes to surround the enemy.
Although the changes in the Crab Formation are complicated, it harms the left and benefits the right, moving the rear to the front. The beauty of its use lies in the general's temporary command according to the enemy's situation. The rapidity of its advance, retreat, opening and closing only requires a few flag-bearers to master it, and the whole army can look forward to it.
Wherever the flag goes, it will go. Therefore, if an army uses a few large flag bearers, it can command the masses with little unevenness and a clear outline, so that it can use simplicity to control complexity.
This formation did not come from the Qing Dynasty, but from the Taiping Army. Gao Pragmatic saw it when he was looking up information on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement in order to write a paper. He was quite surprised at the time and thought that Yang Xiuqing was really a talent.
This crab claw formation is exquisite and not troublesome. It avoids too much difficulty in understanding the command for specific soldiers. The success of the formation lies on the shoulders of the commander and the flag bearer. In this way, the success of the formation lies on the shoulders of the commander and the flag bearer.
, as long as the commander reacts quickly and accurately enough, and the flag bearer's instructions are in place, there will be almost no difficulties in changing the formation, which is extremely helpful for temporary changes.
Why emphasize temporary changes? Because what high pragmatism wants is temporary changes.
Burihatu concentrated his forces on the Chinese Army, and his intention was very obvious. It can be said to be a tit-for-tat confrontation with his seemingly wild goose formation. As for his intention, it is naturally not difficult to guess. He just wanted to bet on the high and pragmatic Chinese Army.
Weak, he must concentrate his forces to defeat him in one fell swoop - before the powerful wings of the Ming army defeat him, he must first defeat the center of the Ming army.
In Burihatu's view, no matter how strong the two wings of the Ming army are, it cannot change a strategic fact, which is the irreplaceable importance of Gao Jingjing in the Ming army. As long as the central army is defeated, no matter whether Gao Jingjing is killed by the formation,
, were captured, even if they escaped, the Ming army would be defeated immediately in this battle, and there would be no possibility of turning defeat into victory.
The title of the first military commander of the Ming Dynasty was not only a source of confidence for the Ming army, but also the trigger for the collapse of the Ming army. The highly pragmatic Mongolian and Yuan economic strategies were established so that the Chinese army could not fall, and the Ming army felt that they would not be defeated.
Once the Mongol-Yuan Economic Strategy falls, the morale of the entire Ming army on all fronts will inevitably plummet.
By then, the Ming army that did not dare to confront the Mongolian army more than ten years ago will surely reappear.
Therefore, Burihatu's current purpose is very clear, which is to imitate Emperor Taizong Li Shimin's classic "rolling the flag to pass the camp" - to kill the enemy's central army at all costs, then cut down the enemy's banner, and suddenly raise his own battle flag.
Raise it high. As soon as the enemy troops saw that their commander-in-chief had died in the battle, and there was no fighting spirit left, they immediately turned into eggplants beaten by frost, listless and ready to be slaughtered.
This move is like the so-called "decapitation tactic" in later generations. By directly seizing the center of the enemy's army, it not only cuts off the effective command of the entire army, but also destroys the opponent's morale. It can be called Li Shimin's most powerful tactic in the Qin Dynasty.
In the Battle of Hulao Pass, Li Shimin defeated Xia King Dou Jiande's 100,000-strong army with 3,500 troops. Although Li Shimin used many strategies throughout the war to gradually accumulate the possibility of victory, in the final analysis, his victory on the battlefield still relied on this
"Rolling up the flag to pass the camp" with one hand. [Note: Of course, Li Shimin often fell into tight siege in his early years, in fact, most of them were caused by this.]
However, what Burihatu didn't know was that while he studied Gao Pragmatic deeply, Gao Pragmatic also studied him equally deeply, and repeatedly raised the importance of him, even more closely than Tumen Khan himself.
The judgment of Buri Hatu is based on a highly pragmatic and profound analysis of the current situation he is facing, and is comprehensively based on Buri Hatu's personality. Buri Hatu's military characteristics are actually very good from an ordinary perspective.
Always cautious, but willing to take risks at critical moments, this is the style of a true general.
But the problem is that the troubles Burihatu faces are far bigger and more numerous than Gao Pragmatism. Many of Gao Pragmatism's troubles come from the Ming Dynasty's officialdom system, which mainly requires political means; Burihatu's troubles are mainly due to Mongolia's lack of productivity.
Even if there is a way to solve this problem and insufficient population, it cannot be solved in one or two generations. It not only requires means, but also takes a long time.
Therefore, the differences between the two of them were caused by the huge disparity in basic strength between the Ming and Mongolian sides. As a military advisor with a shallow foundation in Chahar, Burihatu had little room for change, and the effect was naturally limited.
The base of population and productivity is there, so what can Burihatu do even if he has only three heads and six arms? Even if he were to be a highly pragmatic person and help the Mongols develop productivity, his performance might not be much better.
Therefore, unless Gao Pragmatic puts up a complete defensive formation at this moment, Burihatu will put up an aggressive attacking formation. Without him, it is impossible to fight.
"Woo - Wu - Wu..." the Mongolian army's horn sounded. The Mongolian army, which was originally concentrated, strangely separated about 500 horses to the left and right sides and slowly drove out of the main position. The horses under their crotches were not fast.
Xu slowly accelerated, but there was no sign of rushing into the formation yet.
Of course, each of the five hundred light cavalry is not suitable to face the eight and a half thousand Ming army cavalry in front of them. It would almost be death.
But since the enemy cavalry is coming towards us, it is impossible for our own cavalry to sit still on their horses. This is not in line with the basic principles of cavalry combat. Therefore, Xu Long, Wu Sixun's troops on the left, and Zhao Menglin and Pogui's troops on the right have nothing to do with it.
He started to move without hesitation, and moved head on without any haste.
Since the two sides were nearly four or five miles apart before the war (here refers to the distance between the Mongolian army and the advancing Ming army's two wings, and they were further away from the high-pragmatic Chinese army), so the speed of both sides was very restrained at this moment, and to a certain extent
In other words, this is also a warm-up for the war horse.
However, the battlefield is not isolated. When the two wings move, Gao Pragmatic and Burihatu cannot move. The Chinese armies of both sides also begin to advance slowly. Originally, Gao Pragmatic's Chinese army and the Mongolian army's Chinese army were about six miles apart. Soon after, they
shortened to four miles.
At this time, the weak Mongolian army's five hundred cavalry on each wing had already fired the first wave of ultra-long-range arrows. Such ultra-long-range shooting did not have much practical significance, and its accuracy and lethality were almost useless.
The two wings of the Ming army, which had not entered the effective range of the Wanli II lance, reacted calmly. Not only did they not panic, but no one even fired in vain because of panic.
However, this round of ultra-long-range shooting from both wings of the Mongolian army was not originally intended to cause any damage. Their purpose was to test whether the Ming army was calm; second, to stretch their muscles and feel the feel; and third, to conceal their true tactical goals.
Soon, the Ming armies on both sides found that their current weak Mongolian cavalry seemed to be starting to cut at an angle.
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