Chapter 1074 Fang Jin: It turns out it’s just mediocre!
Chapter 1074 Fang Jin:...It turns out it’s just mediocre!
The next day, the morning light showed slightly, and the air in the northwest grassland was particularly fresh. The sunlight shone on the glazed tiles of the Prince's residence in Xining, making the golden light shine and show off the eyes.
“Dong dong!!!”
When the sky was bright, the sound of war drums was heard throughout Xining Fucheng.
Accompanied by the sound of men roaring and horses neighing, the soldiers in Xining City, wearing armor and holding swords, lined up and headed towards the west city.
This time Jia Heng led 40,000 cavalry troops from the Beijing camp and 20,000 Chahar Mongolian cavalry troops, leaving 10,000 cavalry troops stationed in Xining Fucheng.
As for Xining Fucheng, Jin Xuan deployed 40,000 infantry and 10,000 men to escort the grain and fodder. After the cavalry led by Jia Heng, they headed for Huangyuan City, preparing to capture Huangyuan County in one go.
In addition, the Han army also dispatched Folan machine guns and other siege equipment.
Fang Jin also led 20,000 Xining cavalry, and accompanied Jia Heng on his expedition, for Jia Heng to mobilize. The total number of troops and horses from both sides was 120,000, and they marched towards Huangyuan County.
Huangyuan has always been called the source of Huangshui, but in fact the real source of Huangshui is Haiyan.
During the Tang Dynasty, it was occupied by the Tibetans and renamed Qingtang City. Since the Chen and Han Dynasties, Huangyuan has become a fortress for the "tea and horse trade" and is known as the throat of Tibet.
In the evening, the cavalry as the vanguard arrived at the entrance of Huangyuan East Canyon and began to set up camp to meet the army.
There is a stronghold high up at the entrance of the valley, and there are Heshuote Mongolian soldiers and horses inside to defend the stronghold. They use rolling logs, stones, bows and arrows to defend based on the terrain.
The leading general is Yue Tuo's deputy general Leng'erli, who has always been known for his bravery in battle. At this moment, he has stationed 10,000 troops to guard the entrance of the village, intending to use the favorable terrain to fight the Han army to death.
Jia Heng, surrounded by a group of Jinyifu generals and Beijing camp cavalry generals, entered the Chinese army's tent and asked Jia Fang, "Where is General Xie?"
"My lord, General Xie has gone to investigate the enemy's situation," Jia Fang said.
Jia Heng muttered: "Bring the map."
When Jia Fang brought the map, Jia Heng came closer to take a look.
It is obvious that the mountains here are undulating, with ravines and valleys, and there are many valley mouths. On the northeast side are the Heishiya Mountains and Changling. This is why the prince of Nan'an wanted to transfer grain to Huangyuan. Because grain was transported back and forth.
Very inconvenient.
It can be said that after losing Huangyuan, the Han army lost its geographical convenience and became quite passive.
Unless you are familiar with the valley entrances of these mountain ranges, you can use the mobility of the cavalry to find the enemy's main force for combat.
This was also the strategy used by King Zhou and King Jincheng of Xining County to intimidate Qinghai during the Longzhi period of the Chen Han Dynasty, but Huangyuan still wanted to capture it as a grain and fodder turnover center.
No Huangyuan means no high ground support.
"This battle is not easy to fight." Jia Heng frowned and whispered.
However, in the northwest battle of Yongzheng Dynasty, Nian Gengyao, who had hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, still won the battle. Through tactics such as the suspicion of soldiers and the empty city strategy, he defeated the momentum of Luobuzangdanjin, and then the Qing army
Launch a comprehensive counterattack, uproot the stronghold, and then go deep into the desert to surround the enemy's rear.
This was not achieved overnight. It was through a combination of first defending, then attacking, and pursuing, etc., to weaken the enemy's strength step by step, and finally achieve annihilation. In fact, it was somewhat similar to his current situation.
In short, I responded to six words, take your time, it will be faster.
Therefore, Fang Jin could not be arrested and tortured before.
When Jia Heng was thinking about the strategy of using troops, someone reported from outside: "General Xie and Khan Ezhe are here."
Ezhe Khan, as the accompanying troops this time, mainly spent this period of time to find out the surrounding valley mouth.
Jia Heng said: "Have someone come over."
With the Mongolian Ezhe accompanying him, the survivability of the cavalry going deep into Qinghai will be greatly improved.
Because in the vast grasslands and deserts, how to find water sources, determine the direction, pursue the enemy, and supplement food through cattle and sheep are really not what the Han army is good at, and Li Guang might end up getting lost.
Therefore, I was a little anxious about Ya Ruocai before.
While he was talking, Ezhe, accompanied by Batur, the captain of the bodyguard, came over with Xie Zaiyi, the commander of Guyong Camp in Beijing.
It is worth mentioning that Xie Zaiyi, as an earl, has been promoted to the governor of Zhangguyong camp, while Jia Heng is still the deputy envoy of the Jingying camp and the governor of Guoyong camp.
"Commander," Xie Zaiyi said, cupping his fists and saluting Jia Heng.
E Zhe also asked Jia Heng straight to the point: "In the past few days, we have found out all the valley entrances. When will we start?"
Since there were no military generals from Xining here, the Khan of Chahar Mongolia did not avoid many taboos.
Jia Heng said: "Don't rush now, kill the effective strength of Heshuote Mongolia. When the time comes, our army will be organized into several teams, with five thousand cavalry as one team, and they can hunt freely."
First use internal tactics to weaken some of the effective forces of Heshuote Mongolia, and then divide the troops to kill them.
At that time, they were attacking Huangyuan fiercely while using their cavalry to massacre the Mongolian tribes in Qinghai in batches. It would not take long before the people of Qinghai's various units would become distraught and fall apart.
This is also a set of combo punches.
Where are the infantry?" Jia Heng asked.
Jia Fang reported: "Jie Shuai, the infantry should not arrive until tomorrow."
Jia Heng said: "Wait a moment and find out the earth's veins."
In Huangyuan County, Yue Tuo and Dorji also looked solemn.
The Mongol tribes in Qinghai originally had 80,000, and they were forced to gather together to have about 100,000. However, the previous 20,000 had been sent to Tibet, and now there are about 60,000 elites.
"The Han army is approaching fiercely this time. How do you think we can retreat from the enemy?" Dorji said: "How about we leave Huangyuan behind and lure the Han army to invade?"
Yue Tuo stood in front of the map at this moment and said in a deep voice: "The Duke of Wei of the Han Dynasty is not the king of Nan'an County. The same strategy cannot be used a second time. Moreover, once Huangyuan is lost, Haiyan cannot be saved. At that time, the Han army will be strong."
Qinghai and Mongolia will definitely not be able to resist the pressure."
When Dorji heard this, he frowned and asked, "Xian brother, what should we do?"
"Hold Huangyuan and wait for the Han army to attack. We will attack them as soon as we see them!" Yue Tuo's eyes fell on the winding and undulating mountains.
Naturally, this map does not have various valley entrances suitable for troops to enter. If they are all guarded, the distribution of troops will not be enough.
At this moment, Deputy Commander Ilden entered the military tent and said, "Your Majesty, there is news."
"Where are the things?" Yue Tuan asked.
Ilden said: "I sent a letter first, saying that the thing has been rubbed and will be delivered in the next two days. The Han court seems to be suspicious in the past few days."
As he said that, he handed over the paper in his hand.
Yue Tuo stopped reading and said, "Brother, wait for another two or three days."
Dorji looked at Yue Tuo with joy, and his tone was full of expectation: "Dear brother, does he already have a strategy to defeat the enemy?"
During this period, after staying with Yue Tuo for a long time, Dorji was also influenced by what he heard and heard, and his speech became semi-literate.
Yue Tuo's eyes flashed with aggression, and he said in a deep voice: "Brother, just wait for the good news, I will definitely win this time."
With the march map, the mobilization of the Han army was as transparent to him. When the time came to ambush the Han army, he would make the despicable and shameless Duke Wei pay with his blood!
Seeing this, Dorji felt relieved and said, "Now that my dear brother has an idea, let's go have a banquet and drink. I'm a little hungry now."
Yue Tuo said: "Recharge your batteries today and fight the offensive and defensive battle with the Han army tomorrow! Once the Han army is frustrated in attacking the city, they will definitely want to win with a surprise force. That will be our opportunity."
There is a saying in the art of war: use the right combination to win by surprise.
As the saying goes, poverty leads to change, change leads to generalization, and generality leads to prosperity. As long as the Han army is frustrated in attacking the city, it will definitely find ways to invade from other places. That will be their opportunity.
Seeing that Yue Tuan was calm and composed, Dorji gained some confidence.
Every time Brother Yue Tuo looks like this, victory is already certain, and he knows this.
…
…
The Jade Rabbit sets in the west, and the Golden Crow rises in the east.
The next day is another new day. Today is still a sunny day with the sun shining brightly. Above the blue sky, the white clouds are like marshmallows. Just looking at them makes people feel relaxed and happy.
Occasionally, birds fly across the sky, flying towards the winding mountains.
As soldiers from various ministries arrived one after another, the generals and generals began to dispatch scouts to the entrance of the Near East Canyon to check the enemy's situation. By noon, the Xining border army infantry led by Jin Xuan himself also arrived at the front line.
They cut wood into beams and piled earth into buildings, and began to build condescending gun towers and watchtowers under the mouth of the East Canyon to facilitate the subsequent siege and suppression of firepower.
Although the Hongyi artillery was not brought on this trip, the Folang machine cannon and fire blunderbuss could also achieve the purpose of parallel suppression of the Heshuote Mongols who were defending the stronghold.
At the same time, in order to prevent Heshuote Mongolia from sending troops to cause great damage to these siege equipment, Jia Heng sent two generals, Jia Fang and Jia Chang, with a thousand rangers to provide support at any time.
However, Heshuote Mongolia or Leng'erli knew that he had a small army and did not go down the mountain to cause damage. Instead, his soldiers collected earth, wood and lime to strengthen the mountain stronghold in an attempt to resist the advance of Chen Han's army.
At this moment, Leng'erli stood on the watchtower, looking at the scattered and orderly Han army camps in the distance.
The mountain village where Leng'erli lived was actually not very big. It was originally stationed with a thousand Han troops. After the Heshuote Mongols captured Huangyuan County, in order to resist the advancing soldiers and horses from Xining Fucheng, they temporarily rested on the rocks.
The expansion and defense facilities are not as solid as a rock, or have not withstood the test of war.
Moreover, the Heshuote Mongols are actually not very good at defending the city. The reinforcements that rushed to Xining before were nothing more than a bloody courage, regardless of casualties.
But now, facing the Han army, which was good at civil engineering work, they would lose if they stayed for a long time.
At this moment, Jia Heng was riding a horse below and using a telescope to observe the terrain and defense facilities of the mountain village. The mountain village blocking the valley entrance had an elevation of about 30 to 40 degrees. It could be said to be steep or flat, and it was covered with grass and grass.
There are many rugged mountains and rocks in the terrain, which affects the cavalry's charge. Of course, both sides face the same disadvantages.
After a slight visual inspection of the angle, I could see that the Folan cannon and bows and arrows could be obtained, but the strength was a little weaker.
"It might be better if the Hongyi cannon is brought." Chen Xiao seemed to see what the young man was thinking about as he frowned, and said in a clear voice.
Jia Heng said: "This village is the only one that can be used. When we are chasing people to the north in Qinghai, we can't use the Hongyi artillery. By the way, we have brought those grenades with us, right?"
This is the latest firearm research result developed by the Shenjing Ordnance Supervisor under his guidance. The homemade grenade has iron nails inside, which is rougher and simpler than the wooden grenades of later generations.
Chen Xiaoxiu frowned and said doubtfully: "I brought it with me. That thing is a bit like a firecracker. Is it really useful?"
Jia Heng chuckled lightly and said: "You don't have much of those things, so you can test their power. Once they are used well, you can improve them in the future. It cannot be said to be a secret weapon to defeat the Jurchens and defeat the enemy."
While the two were talking, Dong Qian, who was now the left leader of the guard army, cupped his fists and said: "Commander Jie, General Fuyuan invites you to come over to discuss the military situation."
Jia Heng nodded and said to Chen Xiao: "Let's go back to the Chinese army camp."
Not long after Jin Xuan arrived, he asked the infantry in Xining Fucheng to start civil engineering work and built many camps near the flat valley entrance. From a distance, the layout looked like a complete one with ditches and arrow towers. He was also a veteran.
Compared with when the Prince of Nan'an County came with his troops, Jin Xuan fished all the way, but now Jin Xuan has almost taken out all the coffins of the Jin family.
The large tent of the Chinese army was crowded with people and noisy.
Gathered together were General Jin Xuan of Fuyuan, Fang Jin of Xining Cavalry, and a large number of generals of the Xining border army such as Ma Hong, Zou Fu, Xue Jian, etc.
"Duke Wei." As the voices in the military tent suddenly fell silent, Jin Xuan stood up and came forward to greet him. He looked at the young man in python suit with a calm expression and said, "Now we have arrived at Huangyuan City on foot and on horseback.
Just wait for Duke Wei to give the order."
Jia Heng looked at Jin Xuan and said, "Everything is ready, all we need is the east wind."
Then, he nodded towards the Xining Prefecture Guard General and said, "Generals, please sit down and start discussing matters."
The generals nodded in agreement, and then sat down, clearly distinguishable from the generals in the capital camp.
Jia Heng, on the other hand, was sitting behind the Central Military Commander's desk under the personal guards of Jinyi Mansion. His eyes wandered over the generals below. When his eyes fell on Fang Jin's face, he paused for a moment, but did not stop and said:
"Generals, the purpose of conquering Huangyuan this time is to open up the way for troops to advance and threaten Huangyuan with a large army. Secondly, it is to test the movements of Heshuote Mongolian soldiers and horses. Huangyuan County is a small town, and there is not much food in the city.
If the siege continues for a long time, the Heshuote Mongolian power cannot be maintained, and we can easily recover without risking an ambush."
When Fang Jin heard that the young man was talking freely, he secretly sneered in his heart.
What a great general he thought he was, but it turned out to be nothing more than mediocre!
It is true that Huangyuan is a small town, but the Tatars have been operating for a long time, and the terrain is steep. If they really want to defend it, the two sides will fight for a long time, and the Heshuote Mongolian food and fodder will not continue. Will the imperial army's food and fodder be endless?
The imperial court had deployed so many troops in order to conquer the west. How much food and fodder was consumed? After delaying the campaign for more than a month, it was natural that the troops would have to withdraw.
Therefore, Jia Heng probably still thought of dividing his troops to go to the valley entrance, surrounding the enemy from behind, and attacking from both sides.
Jin Xuan seemed to have the same concerns. He stared at Jia Heng and said worriedly: "If the enemy fights to the death and refuses to retreat, our army will suffer a lot of casualties. Do we have all the food and fodder?"
At this time, Wei Wang Chen Ran said: "General Fuyuan, don't worry, the Ministry of Revenue has raised funds to transport grain and fodder to Lanzhou to support the army's advance."
Jin Xuan nodded when he heard this and said: "Since His Highness the King of Wei said this, I am relieved."
Jia Heng said: "With our army's artillery fire and crossbows, the greater casualties should be from the Heshuote Mongols. They can't withstand the same consumption. It is only a matter of time before they give up Huangyuan. The current situation is still one where the enemy is weak and we are strong.
"
Especially since Heshuote Mongolia has deployed troops and horses to support Tibet, he has a window period of about one to two months.
Once Gushi Khan of Heshuote Mongolia defeated Zangba Khan, it would be irreversible to return to Qinghai.
When the Heshuote Khanate was at its peak, the Qing Dynasty also focused on appeasement and canonization.
Therefore, the window period given to him to recruit troops is only one month.
Seeing Jia Heng's insistence, Jin Xuan couldn't persuade him any more and said, "Then just follow the wishes of Duke Wei."
The advantage of setting up camp like this and attacking with Xining Fucheng behind is that there will be no mistakes. As long as the Duke of Wei is in trouble, he will naturally stop attacking.
Thus, the military strategy was decided.
By the time the soldiers were cooking rice and smoke was rising from the cooking stoves, the entire infantry and cavalry camps had entered into a tense and orderly atmosphere before the war.
Jia Heng returned to his sleeping tent, and just after entering the military tent, Chen Xiao entered the tent, with a rare lightness on his cold and beautiful face, and said: "It's all done."
Jia Heng said: "They are not suspicious, right?"
"No." Chen Xiao lowered his voice and said softly: "I marked two roads, which may give people the illusion that they are attacking from behind with two wings."
Jia Heng said: "Yue Tuo is a very cunning person. He will probably send people to conduct on-site inspections. These two roads must be consistent with the way of advancing troops, and they must really be able to allow 5,000 to 10,000 cavalry troops to advance."
Chen Xiao said: "Don't worry, those two roads were originally the entrance to the mountain road that was opened after the first secret. In the past, Longzhi's grade used it. If they ambush there, they can attack from other roads."
Jia Heng nodded and said: "The strategy should not be too complicated to avoid further setbacks."
The more complex the strategy, the more details there are, and the easier it is to make mistakes. However, Yue Tuo's plan to lure Nan'an and others was very simple and highly maneuverable.
Of course, his plan is not that complicated.
Chen Xiao responded and said nothing else.
Afterwards, Jia Heng, accompanied by the general, inspected the layout of various camps.
In this way, the peaceful day gradually passed, but the tense atmosphere before the battle between Heshuote Mongolia and the Han army gradually became tense.
On the morning of the next day, Chen Han's army began their first probing attack.
First, the Xining border army dispatched 8,000 infantry, and the Beijing camp dispatched a thousand cavalry, abandoning their horses and drawing bows. Under the joint command of the generals of the Beijing camp and Xining, they tested the actual strength of the troops deployed at the entrance of the East Canyon and the dispatch of mobile forces.
Generals Hu Kui and Hou Xiaokang, the former commander-in-chief of Ningxia, also took the lead in the army and stared nervously at the stronghold ahead.
As the arrows and Fran cannons from the watchtowers fired towards the mountain stronghold, suppressing the rain of bows and arrows from the Heshuote Mongolia, the infantry held shields and began to rush towards the hillside.
"Boom!"
Accompanied by the sound of drums as thick as raindrops, the army's first probing attack began, and the military line began to be fully rolled out. All over the mountains and plains were soldiers wearing red mandarin duck war coats, black armor, iron helmets, holding shields and wild goose feathers.
Swordsmen, either carrying bows and arrows on their backs, hanging crossbows on their waists, or holding spears.
Rumble…
Rolling logs and stones rolled down the steep hillside, and many infantrymen groaned in pain, while shells fired by Hanting's Franco machine guns fell into the mountain stronghold, causing widespread destruction.
Arrows as dense as locusts rained down one after another, killing the knights of Heshuote Mongolia. Although there was no close combat, the bloody atmosphere gradually spread.
For a moment, the cry of killing filled the entire valley, and some Han soldiers rushed towards the stronghold.
Before Leng Eli shouted "kill", his pupils shrank and his heart was slightly frightened.
I saw the Han soldier lit something on fire, then raised his arms and threw it towards the stronghold where Leng'erli was.
Suddenly, a heavy sound of "Whoosh!!!" sounded, and a smoking black object fell into the stronghold and rolled down among the crowd. Before Leng'eli and the Heshuote Mongolian generals present could see clearly,
What.
"Boom boom!"
The black gunpowder exploded and filled the air with gunpowder smoke, bringing out iron nails and splinters flying everywhere, almost like flying sand and rocks.
Suddenly there was a scream.
"Shoot the arrows and shoot them down! Don't let those people get close!" Seeing this, Leng'eli was frightened and quickly shouted to his soldiers.
Although I don’t know what it was back then, I still know about the firecrackers and the Leng’e ceremony that were set off during the New Year and festivals.
In fact, when Jia Heng proposed this idea to the Ordnance Supervisor, the craftsmen of the Ordnance Supervisor knew the principle. Unlike firecrackers exploding red paper flowers, the explosion was achieved by adding gunpowder to explode wood chips and iron nails.
Kill in pieces.
Got it, start building.
However, compared with the shock waves and fragments of grenades of later generations, this kind of thing obviously has many shortcomings. Therefore, except for one or two people who were killed when the explosion hit, there were more scattered iron nails and sawdust around it.
The wound was deeply embedded in the flesh.
There were also those with blinded eyes, covering their bleeding pupils, rolling on the spot, moaning in pain.
Suddenly, the screams of the Heshuote Mongolian warriors resounded throughout the village, which shook the morale of the troops.
The more this happens, the more it damages morale.
At this moment, the soldiers of Heshuote Mongolia would rather go down the mountain to fight with the Han army than stay here and be killed by the explosion of iron nails and sawdust without being able to see the Han army.
Seeing this, Leng Eli complained secretly and could only draw his bow and shoot arrows at the Han army who was holding a shield in one hand and a wild goose feather sword in the other.
Whoosh!!!
The Leng'e ceremony was performed skillfully with bows and horses, and when the bowstrings sounded, Han soldiers must have fallen to the ground. Not long after, the Han army was stopped when they advanced.
At this moment, at this moment, I suddenly felt a chill in my heart. I felt that I was being targeted by a murderous intention. I felt a chill in my heart and hurriedly dodged to the side.
At this moment, Xie Zaiyi led a group of soldiers and rushed to the mountain stronghold halfway up the mountain. He saw the Han troops attacking enthusiastically in the distance falling to the ground one after another.
Shoot away.
Leng'erli felt a warning sign in his heart, and felt the murderous intent, and quickly dodged aside.
Almost instantly, I heard the sound of "stabbing" piercing the air, and the sharp arrows passed by. Suddenly, a burning pain came from the side of my neck. I couldn't think too much, and my heart felt dark.
, the opponent has a sharpshooter!
At this moment, Leng Eli was hiding under the earth and stone wall and said loudly: "Fire the arrow!"
However, the general with thick eyebrows, big eyes and a stern face fired the bow and arrow in his hand. Every time he shot, many soldiers screamed and fell to the ground.
The soldiers and horses of the Beijing camp behind them rushed towards the mountain stronghold, and the northwest frontier troops behind them also followed closely.
For a time, the offensive that was originally a probing attack suddenly had the momentum to take down the village in one go.
