Chapter 161 Zhang Shourong encounters the enemy (Part 2)
Facts have proved that Zhang Wanbang is really a crow's mouth, and his words can almost be said to be a prophecy. Although what he has to face is not 10,000 cavalry, it is worse than 10,000 cavalry - that is 12,000 cavalry. The only thing
The good news is that he didn't run into the whole main force of the flower speculation department.
Although the Chaohua tribe sent more troops than the Chahar tribe, due to the difference in status between the two sides, these 12,000 cavalry still became the vanguard. Moreover, since the north of the Liaohe River was Chaohua's own territory, they did not deliberately send the main force
The distance between them and the Tanma was relatively wide. The group of Tanma were only half an hour's cavalry distance away from the main force of the Huahua Department.
Therefore, when Zhang Wanbang rushed from Dongchangbao to the Sancha River Pier and then took a boat from the south bank of the Liao River to the north bank, the more than thirty scouts from the Flower Speculation Department happened to meet up with the main force of the Flower Speculation Department.
The information that Chaohua Taiji received at this time made him feel a little troublesome, because the scouts told him that there were a large number of ships docked near the Sancha River dock on the other side, and it seemed that at least half of them were "Jinghua ships" with guns.
Jinghua is rampant in the entire Liaohe River Basin, and even dares to go deep into the Western Liaohe River controlled by his Chaohua Department, showing off his power in the river, and going in and out is like no one's land. Of course Chaohua knows this, but he really uses Jinghua's boat
The team is helpless.
However, he only knew that Jinghua's fleet was invincible across the Liao River, but he was not very clear about the specific number of Jinghua's ships on the Liao River, and how many of them were equipped with weapons and equipment was even more unclear.
However, the news Tan Ma told him at this moment was that there were at least twenty ships on the other side that seemed to have cannons.
This is obviously very bad news, and it means that he may have a lot of trouble crossing the river south - he could not recruit a few boats in the first place, because the Mongols themselves rarely abandon their horses, and almost 100% of the boats on the Liao River are
They belong to the Han people, and there is no need to collect them from the north coast.
The main reason why the invasion of southern Liaoning went smoothly in the sixth year of Wanli was because it was already winter when the troops were dispatched. The Liao River had long been frozen at that time and was very thick. He and Tumen led their horses directly that time.
In the past (Note: The Liaohe River has a freezing period of about four months every year, and it is longer north of the middle reaches.)
But this time the troops were sent out too early. It was not long after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and it was obviously not yet the Ice Age.
Damn it, grandma, why did you forget this? Damn it! Chaohua cursed in her heart.
In fact, he didn't really forget, but he just didn't expect that in just two or three years, the Liaohe River would have a river-crossing dragon called Jinghua, because if he had come here before, even if the Liaohe River hadn't frozen, it would have been enough to temporarily build a batch of rafts.
He could cross the river, but he had to cross slowly in batches. And they were all cavalry, so they came very quickly. Even if they wasted a little time building rafts, the main force of the Ming army on the other side would not be able to rush to intercept him so quickly.
Seeing such a big mistake, Chaohua was in a very bad mood. He turned around a few times with a sullen face, stamped his feet and said: "No, I want to go and see for myself what the strength of the Han fleet is."
At this moment, what Chaohua was thinking was that if Jinghua's fleet really couldn't be offended at first glance, then he could use the speed advantage of the cavalry to cross the river in another place. If that didn't work, he could go back dozens of miles and give up the direct attack on Dongchang Fort.
He planned to cross the Xiliao River from his own territory.
Then first attack Pingshan Fort in the west, then go south to capture Xining Fort, and then... well, then you still have to cross the Liao River, but then there will be more river sections to choose from. He feels that the Han people on the other side
It is impossible for the fleet to set up defenses everywhere along the Liaohe River for hundreds of miles. As long as it relies on its speed advantage, it can always find a section where it can cross the river.
Li Chengliang won't come to help anyway, so what's the point of wasting a little time?
Since it was already known that Jinghua's fleet had artillery, Chaohua's camp did not go directly to the river, but camped more than 30 miles north of the three forks of the Liaohe River (Note: In fact, due to the bifurcation of the Liaohe River
, the Liao River here in this book is called the Daliao River in modern times. If you read the book very seriously, you should not get confused, otherwise you may be confused.), since you are just going to check the enemy's situation, you will not destroy the army.
He took them all with him, but only brought more than a thousand riders.
In fact, for Zhang Wanbang at this moment, there is not much difference between more than 1,000 and 12,000. Anyway, he only has fifty people. No matter how they compare, there is a huge disparity in strength, and there is no way to fight.
Zhang Wanbang led his people to explore the shore for a while, and naturally they couldn't find the batch of horses from the Chao Hua Department. But thanks to the rain today, he found the hoof prints left by the horses from the Chao Hua Department in the mud.
Without saying a word, Zhang Wanbang relied on this clue to chase north. However, after walking for less than a stick of incense, he realized that something was wrong with the situation ahead.
Although it is impossible to predict the approaching cavalry from the smoke and dust on rainy days, ground listening is still feasible. Although it is inconvenient to lie down in the mud and listen to the ground, the same effect can be achieved by listening against a big tree, and this
This skill is not magical for Xuanda warriors who often march and fight in mountainous areas like Shanxi. Almost everyone among these servants knows this skill.
A servant was ordered to scrape off the bark of a big tree on the roadside to remove a large piece of his face. After only a few breaths of time, his face suddenly became ugly, and he immediately pressed closer to it.
After listening carefully, he immediately jumped up and hurriedly said to Zhang Wanbang: "Young Master! Those Liaodong soldiers can't afford to die in the mountains (note: Shanxi dialect, describing people who are worthless and unable to accomplish big things), do whatever they can to ignore them."
(Nonsense), there are at least a thousand cavalry coming towards us from the front!"
Zhang Wanbang was shocked when he heard this: "Thousands? Hou Si'er, don't you think it's raining?"
Hou Si'er said anxiously: "Master, I, Hou Si'er, have worked hard for ten years without giving up. Am I the kind of person with many problems? It's really more than a thousand horses. If it's less than a thousand, what's wrong with you?"
The little heads were used to make chamber pots!”
"Damn it, something big has happened!" Zhang Wanbang suddenly became anxious. He was not afraid of facing these more than a thousand cavalry. After all, he now knew that he had a way out. The problem was that the number of more than a thousand cavalry had its own consequences.
question.
Of course, with more than a thousand cavalry, it is not a problem to hit a few piers, but it is basically impossible to capture his Dongchang Fort. Moreover, the Huahua Department is not one of the best in Mongolia.
The cavalry coming south of the Liao River is of little use at all, but it does not make sense to say that it is just to capture a few piers or villages.
Therefore, in Zhang Wanbang's opinion, these more than a thousand cavalry should be the vanguard of the flower speculation department. In addition, according to Gao Bingxian's introduction, judging from the situation of the flower speculation department in the past few years, although the flower speculation department is not honest, it is not courageous either.
It's very big. To attack the border of the Ming Dynasty, you basically have to go with Chahar or Dong Hu. Come quickly and bring Hai and others together.
Now that both Dong Hu and Su Bahai have become dead souls, the Chaohua Department should have just put their tail between their legs and behaved honestly, but he happened to come, so there is only one most likely possibility, that is, Chaohua is still alive.
There is an accomplice, and currently only Tumen is qualified for this accomplice.
After all, Zhang Wanbang is just a defense guard at Dongchang Fort. Even though Dongchang Fort is an important fortress, he only has 1,670 guardsmen in his hands, including more than 400 people on twelve piers.
In addition, there are only three hundred servants he brought with him.
The opponent has more than a thousand cavalry even in the vanguard, and the total number is likely to exceed ten thousand. Can his two thousand men defend Dongchang Fort?
"Withdraw!" Zhang Wanbang didn't care so much at first. He shouted "Withdraw" with one order, and then a group of fifty cavalry turned around and withdrew in the direction of the Jinghua gunboat that was temporarily docked on the river bank.
While he was beating his horse and running wildly, he said to Hou Si'er, who claimed to have been working for ten years, and said: "When you cross the river and get off the boat, you take a few brothers to notify Niujiazhuang Horse Station and hurry up.
The people and horses must all be withdrawn into Dongchang Fort, and the food and fodder in the horse post must also be withdrawn!"
Hou Si'er responded. After running for a while, he suddenly remembered something and asked Zhang Wanbang: "Master, that's not right. We have boats, but the Tatars don't have boats. How can they cross the river?"
Zhang Wanbang said angrily: "Nonsense, I know it, why do you have to say it? I'm afraid that they will attack in the east and west, attract some people to attract my attention, and then the main force will cross the river from elsewhere, go around and pick up the horse post, then I'll have a damn fun
It’s a big hit!”
Hou Si'er shrank his neck when he heard this and didn't dare to talk any more.
Not long after, more than fifty people ran back to the shore like the wind. The people from Jinghua saw that they had turned back not long after they left. They thought it was raining too hard, so Zhang Shourong was too lazy to chase. The boss of the ship stood on the bow and clasped his fists, laughing.
: "The rain is getting heavier and heavier. Why don't Shou Rong make do with it on the ship now, have a quick meal and then see if he wants to continue the investigation?"
Zhang Wanbang shouted: "Forget about eating, the fried flower department is heading south in a big way. I guess there are people from Chahar. Let's retreat to the river and wait for a while to see the real situation before making plans!"
The boss of the ship was also shocked when he heard this. He had just been "deceived" by Zhang Wanbang's relatively calm expression, thinking that the problem was not big. Who knew that Zhang Wanbang was just used to big scenes. Although he knew that the matter could not be delayed, it would not be a big problem.
Just panicked.
The boss of the boat hurriedly called on the boatmen to put down the plank, and hurriedly helped Zhang Wanbang and others get on the boat. When all fifty cavalrymen got on the boat, the cavalrymen of the Huahua Department who were following behind them had already appeared in their sight. As expected, Hou Sier was not there.
Misjudgment, the cavalry must have numbered more than a thousand men.
Not only that, judging from the flags carried by the cavalry, it seemed that Chaohua himself was in the formation, and when both sides appeared in each other's field of vision, the cavalry immediately accelerated towards them, not knowing that they were trying to seize the ship.
What else are you going to do?
The boss of this ship also accompanied Jinghua's dock guard team to suppress bandits several times. He knew that his greatest advantage was that he could stay safely in the river and rely on the advantage of the artillery range to suppress the people on the shore, so when he saw this situation
, immediately ordered the sails to be set, and asked the oarsmen to move immediately, and first drive the boat into the middle of the river to avoid the opponent's cavalry from shooting with rockets. Although Jinghua's boat has certain fire prevention measures, it is raining again today, but similar
The dangers should be avoided as much as possible to avoid accidents.
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