Chapter 397 The special operations camp is so terrifying
When Tang Shunzhi first arrived at the Three Sides, the numbers on the roster showed that the Three Sides should have more than 200,000 troops.
After such a long period of time, the three sides actually had more than 120,000 fighting troops.
This time, 50,000 troops from Gansu Province stayed behind, which shocked Turpan in the west and Qinghai in the south. Nearly 30,000 troops were left behind in Yansui and Ningxia to avoid problems in the border areas. At this time, the biggest movement of the army was from the border wall to the Yellow River.
The total number of people sweeping south of the Yellow River circled by the word Wan is nearly 30,000.
The real expedition was composed of about 8,000 men led by Tang Shunzhi himself, in addition to the 3,000 elite soldiers who had already set off.
More than 10,000 people in Datong committed suicide and headed towards Guanshan in the direction of Tucheng to be naturalized. Zhu Qi led the Taiyuan Army, with more than 4,000 cavalry in the vanguard and more than 8,000 infantry behind them.
When the pioneer elite cavalry rushed along the east side of the Yellow River to the ancient crossing at the mouth of Junzijin, they immediately encountered resistance.
"They are actually defending here! If we want to send a message to Tang Dutai, I'm afraid the Tatars are planning to cross north from here!"
Zhu Qi did not act rashly. It was purely cavalry versus cavalry. He did not dare to bet that his four thousand men could just defeat the Tatar cavalry over there.
Now that we have encountered this group of nearly five thousand elite cavalry, it means that the other party is determined to cross the river here.
This is the lower reaches of the Yellow River in the Hetao area, and there are already signs of freezing.
You have to wait for the infantry from behind to arrive, then the artillery bombardment will be effective.
Zhu Qi faced off here for two days, using binoculars to spy on his subordinates on the other side of the Yellow River, but still found nothing.
On the third day, the Hetao Tartar cavalry suddenly galloped north and disappeared from Zhu Qi's sight.
Now, the road to the west along the north bank of the Yellow River has been opened, but Zhu Qi is a little confused.
Is it true that as Tang Shunzhi judged, the Tatars wanted to cross northward further to the west? Why did the Tatars withdraw north?
He has been delayed here for three days. If he wants to rush over, Zhu Qi can only rely on these cavalry to go west. Is the cavalry retreating north to let them pass and then take the back road?
"Hang over and see where they are hiding! Go west, slower!"
Zhu Qi could not delay any longer, so he had to send out his sentry cavalry first, while the main force maintained a safer rhythm.
Don't forget what happened two days ago.
"Go to Tang Dutai and send the message again. Junzijin here is a scam!"
He gritted his teeth. Tang Shunzhi was in the west. The news would have to go around a long way, and the round trip would probably take more than ten days.
This time is different from a few years ago. The advice Wang Shouren gave him made Zhu Qi's goal very clear.
Tang Shunzhi was a little younger. Although he had judged it before, Zhu Qi misjudged it after seeing the lasso cavalry.
Of course, there is no difference. The nearly five thousand cavalry are always there. Their purpose is clearly to delay the Taiyuan army in the direction of Piantou Pass for a few days. If Zhu Qi insists on breaking through, he will need to delay here for a few days.
And you have to lose troops and generals.
Now that the cavalry has disappeared, although Zhu Qi has not lost any men, the road ahead seems more unpredictable.
On the third day, they only marched less than forty miles westward, which was very slow for a pure cavalry vanguard.
Then in the evening, the sentry came back.
"Master Hou... there are so many Tatars, probably thirty thousand..."
"What?" Zhu Qi's expression changed, "Where is it?"
"It's more than seventy miles to the north." The little leader of the sentry cavalry had complicated eyes. "It's been moving. Lord Marquis, at least several tribes are migrating to the west together!"
Zhu Qi was shocked: "Migrate?"
Migrating westward, where are the 30,000 Tatars in the northeast of here? Doesn't that mean that the Taolu were not prepared to defend the Fengzhou Beach originally occupied by Anda?
"There are many Lele carts, piled with people and things, and there are many young, old, women and children. Lord Marquis, what should I do?"
Zhu Qi's face looked gloomy and uncertain.
The migrating grassland tribes are naturally very vulnerable, but they have at least nearly five thousand riders to protect them all the way. Moreover, this kind of escape is really about to die in front of you. Tens of thousands of people from several tribes united together will fight to the death.
Over ten thousand.
If Zhu Qi wanted to keep them, he would probably not be able to catch up with the main force of the Taoists who were crossing north.
Now it seems that Gunbilik will not only give up the south of the Yellow River, but also give up Fengzhou Beach.
The tribes that had originally migrated over and wanted to occupy Fengzhou Beach had to form a joint cavalry to delay the Ming army and buy time for their tribes to migrate.
"Where is Liangcheng?" Zhu Qi asked someone else, "Is there any news?"
"not yet……"
The two places were not too far apart now, and Zhu Qi's face turned livid: "They must have sent a lot of people to rob and kill the messengers along the way! A decision must be made. No matter what, we cannot let the migrating captives harass us as we head west.
Road. Send an order to the infantry behind to speed up the march. Divide the cavalry into two thousand and advance along the north bank of the Yellow River to explore the road. The rest of the people, follow my general to the north and tell them to slow down!"
At this moment, how great would it be if the message could be delivered quickly?
Zhu Qi didn't know what the situation was like on Tang Shunzhi's side, nor where Yan Chunsheng was, nor what the progress of the generals in the direction of Datong was.
But they are mainly infantry and cannot be fast. If they go too deep, there will be a big problem of food and grass.
It is necessary to take risks to prevent these small tribes from reaching their scheduled positions. Tens of thousands of captives, with soldiers, supplies, and civilian power, will probably establish a strong enough defense line on the north bank of the Tatars' planned northern crossing. Once the main force of the captives is successful,
If they cross north, their strength will be greatly increased, and they will not be able to easily achieve the goal of defeating them at half-crossing.
In three days, Zhu Qi's vanguard cavalry was forced to fight with two thousand cavalry against tens of thousands of migrating Taolu tribesmen. The opponent's soldiers were at least five thousand.
He made such a decision. He didn't know that the captive cavalry who disappeared in the early morning returned to the main army and changed their horses. Then he divided four thousand people and circled from the west. He not only explored the way forward, but also crossed to Zhu Qi.
between two groups of cavalry that were scattered.
After this cautious march on both sides, it was already the morning of the fifth day.
Zhu Qi saw the Taolu migrating on the opposite side. From several miles away, the Taolu convoy could not be seen through the telescope at a glance. Although the Taolu who had re-tied their Lele chariots were slightly panicked, there were also many cavalrymen.
The south wing of the convoy quickly assembled.
"No! Lord Marquis, many people don't have bows in their hands!"
"So what if I didn't take it!" Zhu Qi also saw it. He handed the binoculars to the guard and put it away, and took out his knife. "It's a trap! Now, we can't retreat. Use their method, let's chop off their tails.
Let’s see if they can save us! Send a few teams of people to the east to explore the situation in the direction of Datong! If they have already occupied Liangcheng, they don’t need to send so many troops to guard it, because all the Tatars are already here!”
As expected, the cavalry guarding the tribe on the opposite side, regardless of whether they had bows or not, after seeing the Ming cavalry appearing on the hill to the south, were already ready to rush over together.
They have few bows but many men.
Moreover, when Zhu Qi, who was barely experienced in many battles, saw this situation, he naturally knew that a trap might appear behind him.
Isn’t this what the Mongols are good at?
If you go southwest to join up with your other cavalry, you will be outflanked. Now the only way to attract the scattered troops is to directly attack this huge migrating tribe, and the Taolu can only abandon the Ming cavalry that continues to drive west.
This is the tribe they escorted along the migration, and their families are all here!
"Come on!"
Zhu Qi no longer needed to hesitate. Even if there were dozens of captives in front of him, he could only choose to deal with them.
Who told him not to make a decisive decision a few days ago and try to defeat the Taolu cavalry head-on?
If they win, there will be a result that can kill tens of thousands of Taolu, and the Taolu's plan to connect the northern crossing from the northeast will naturally come to nothing.
It was he who got himself into this situation.
He can't escape now. If he escapes, the remaining 2,000 cavalry and 8,000 infantry leaving Piantou Pass in the direction of Datong will be in danger.
It turns out that in this area at the core of Anda, a fierce battle broke out between the Ordos tribe and the Ming army.
Even though it cannot be said that all the people are fully mobilized, everyone from nomadic tribes, ranging from half-grown children to active old men, can now participate in defense and counterattack.
Zhu Qi took the lead and penetrated the tail of the entire migrating tribe, and those who tried to cut them off were the cavalry who stayed here and were equal in number to them.
Not long after the Ming army left the hilltop where they were, horns sounded, and cavalry twice their size appeared, following in pursuit.
Several clans with a size of more than 30,000 united and provided a total of 6,000 elite cavalry. They all knew that if these Ming army cavalry were left here, the road ahead would be truly safe.
When Zhu Qi just decided to divide his troops, Tang Shunzhi didn't know what happened here. He had just arrived at Dengkou.
But he was also very shocked, because the number of captives in Dengkou exceeded Tang Shunzhi's judgment.
Could it be that the population of Ordos's tens of thousands of households has increased to this extent in these years?
The 8,000 generals under his command were required to carry baggage and artillery. By the time they marched, it was already November 19th.
Judging from the telescope, the number of Taolu garrison around Dengkou must have exceeded 40,000. Even if most of them are civilians, the number of capable soldiers must be 50,000.
Gunbilik's side is the main force! The total strength of the ten thousand households in Ordos should only be 50,000 or 60,000. You know, the total strength of Mongolia's left and right wings together should only be 30,000 or 400,000. All the grasslands
The total population of the tribe is only about two to three million.
Thousands of households in Ordos have occupied Hetao for many years, and with fifty or sixty thousand troops, they are already a very powerful force. Under Anda's command, there are only about half of them, but Anda himself is stronger.
Now, there are so many Taoist prisoners here in Dengkou, and there are as many as 50,000 cavalry equipped with bows and horses. Could it be that all the Taoist prisoners from the north of the Yellow River are here?
Impossible. If he doesn't defend the east side, he will be beaten no matter where he crosses the river!
Tang Shunzhi quickly thought about something clearly and issued the first order without hesitation.
"Send an order to Gansu Town to send 10,000 troops to take back Qinghai! Gunbilik must have transferred all the Qinghai tribes back from Turpan!"
This is the only possibility.
The situation in the grasslands has changed drastically. Why must we divide our troops and continue to occupy Qinghai? The best strategy is to unite our troops and then raise the flag to conquer Anda in a righteous manner and reap the benefits after the war.
Then came the orders one after another.
"Try to find Zhang Futai and ask them to go to Dengkou and cross to the east of Dengkou!"
"Send the order to Yansui Town, don't be too cautious. You are very determined to trap the captives in crossing north, and the defenses on the west are so strict. We must cross the river early to gather troops, and we must try our best to capture them!"
"Drum roll, attack!"
Soldiers are valuable and quick. Although the enemy is outnumbered, Tang Shunzhi knows that he must break through the Dengkou defense line as soon as possible.
No wonder they still had to build so many rafts even though they chose to cross north in winter. The Taolu cavalry might have to cross the ice from the mouth of the river and dig out the retreat of Zhu Qi's army. And their old, weak, women and children were on the eastern front, Crossing the river calmly under the defensive constraints of the western front.
Having occupied the Hetao for so long, they have long known the temper of this section of the Yellow River.
Following Tang Shunzhi's order, artillery fire rang out in the northwest corner of the Hetao in winter.
There was no city wall in Dengkou, and the Ming army had no stronghold to rely on.
Here, it is pure wild battle.
Tang Shunzhi stood in the mandarin duck formation in front of the artillery position with his long gun pointed out, quietly watching the approaching Taolu cavalry.
After the artillery fire and arrows, there were still black masses of horses approaching. The sound of arrows leaving the strings was heard from the opposite side, and they gathered together like a swarm of bees.
"shield!"
"pistol!"
"Saberbreaker!"
Soon, the place fell into the first round of a deadly battle.
In this land by the Yellow River, blood should have frozen quickly in winter.
However, with so many men and horses, so many artillery fires, and the hoofs of the horses crushing the snow, the blood from the dead and wounded soldiers and horses gradually gathered and flowed into the Yellow River from the low-lying areas.
The Yellow River here has not yet begun to freeze. The turbid Yellow River is not affected by these blood stains and still flows northward firmly.
Further north, Yan Chunsheng seemed to be punching the air with his fists.
"What the hell, where are the Tatars?"
After searching for several days, we did not encounter a single tribe.
Where did the Tatars in the Hetao north of the Yellow River go to spend the winter?
"General, this is really extraordinary!" Daha from the Duoyan tribe vowed, "This location is really the best place to spend the winter. No one has been found in many such locations. They must have moved away!"
After receiving the new order to enter the Hetao through the pass of Yinshan Mountain, Yan Chunsheng found nothing for so many days.
Now that he heard what Daha said, he had to think about it.
"Where can we move? Don't we need the Loop? Isn't Gunbilik still south of the Yellow River? Follow my answer and go east, and prepare to fight with the Khan's court with the whole family?"
Daha means it is very possible: there is no future if you go to the west. There are still remnants of the Oara tribe there, and the water and grass are not as fertile as those to the east and north. Since ancient times, the core of the grassland tribes has not been further west.
"...But Tang Dutai asked me to meet Zhang Futai." Yan Chunsheng was a little hesitant.
"General, Tang Dutai probably didn't expect that Gunbilik wouldn't even want the Loop. Looking at the situation, Zhang Futai doesn't need the general to come to his aid. Tang Dutai can successfully join him by himself." Hurt his eyes.
Very bright, "Go east, with the strength of the general's command, the pursuit will be fastest."
If Gunbilik doesn't even want the Loop, then some tribesmen from the three parts of Duoyan Mountain can move to such a fertile south of the Yinshan Mountains for grazing in the future, right?
Yan Chunsheng gritted his teeth: "If we don't find the Tatar tribe, we won't be able to find food since we moved. We have to guard both sides. Lao Min, you take two hundred people and the Duoyan tribe to find Zhang Futai. The rest.
People, follow me to the east to explore!"
Going deep into the hinterland is like entering an uninhabited land, which Yan Chunsheng never expected.
Leaving the Yinshan Mountains, where hunting is easier in winter, in this endless flat Hetao, one must find a way to support war by fighting.
Not even a small tribe camping for the winter could be found, and Yan Chunsheng's men were becoming increasingly hungry and thirsty.
Now, he and Daha concluded that Gunbilik didn't even want the Loop anymore.
Although there are people from his special operations battalion who are spreading out for reconnaissance, Dengkou is more than two hundred miles away after all, so there is no need to conduct reconnaissance that far.
So he didn't know that Tang Shunzhi's attack had entered its second day, that Zhu Qi had led his troops to the north to intercept him, and that the Taoists were trying to steal Zhu Qi's retreat.
The total size of the special operations battalion is not large, and it is impossible to divide nearly half of the people into conducting reconnaissance.
Fortunately, they are all highly skilled and brave, so they can march in a hurry.
After joining the branches of the Duoyan tribe and starting to "migrate westward", they no longer lacked horses. All the way to the northern foot of the Yin Mountain, they killed several small tribes and captured more along the way.
When Yan Chunsheng took only 600 people and spent less than half a day to explore more than a hundred miles east, he finally saw an endless tent in one place.
"...Fuck, how many people are here?"
Yan Chunsheng weighed it up and realized that even if his 600 people used up all their arrows and projectiles, it would still be impossible to kill even one or two adults here.
"Boss, are all the trappers here?"
In the entire Hetao area, the total population of Ordos's 10,000 households scattered north and south of the Yellow River should be around 300,000.
And now, the huge camp they spied from a distance was probably home to 70,000 to 80,000 people.
Yan Chunsheng thought he could replace 10,000 or 20,000 people, because he found that most of the people here were old, weak, women and children, and the number of soldiers who could actually protect them was probably less than 5,000.
"This is not all the Taolu, but it should be most of the north of the Yellow River. Damn it, the Taolu in the south should be preparing to cross the river from here. The Taolu haven't left yet. They dare to concentrate like this, and they don't plan to stay here for a long time.
.There must be people guarding the east and west sides!"
Yan Chunsheng made another judgment: "We have gone so far east, and we must continue to fight east as soon as possible. If they want to escape to the east, they can be blocked there. There is Uncle Jingbian to the west, so we don't need to worry about it!"
During his years of training in the special operations camp in the capital, Yan Chunsheng knew very well the judgment of the important officials in the capital on Tang Shunzhi's abilities.
And now he has arrived here and obtained important information.
The Taolu had almost concentrated all their forces together, so they had no intention of continuing to defend the Hetao. Such a huge force, no matter which direction they broke through, could not be easily blocked by just one side.
There must be a better way, and the best place for the decisive battle is here, by the Yellow River.
"Let's go! They are all old, weak, women and children, and there are only a few thousand elite soldiers. It's easy to handle! They didn't expect us to come from the north. The troops must be divided to guard the east and west sides. It's just that there are too few of us. We must at least help Datong and Taiyuan.
The soldiers have cleared the east side and lured them over to occupy this place! Be quick!"
Yan Chunsheng, a mere 600 people, spied on this information and quickly took advantage of the special operations battalion and continued to head east at a rapid pace.
This time, there was no saving.
The horses had been fed before setting off, and all the hay carried by the horses they were holding had been fed. Yan Chunsheng just wanted to find the main force of the Ming army and the main defensive force in the east as soon as possible.
When he arrived at the south of Fengzhou Beach, he saw Zhu Qi being chased by nearly ten thousand Tatars, but still circling non-stop to contain them.
"...Is that... the general flag of Marquis Funing?" Yan Chunsheng said in shock after confirming it through the telescope, "He has already lost?"
It's not surprising that he thought so, because Zhu Qi had less than a thousand cavalry around him. There were no other Ming troops as far as the eye could see.
"what to do?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? There are far fewer Tatars here, not even half as many as there in the southwest." Yan Chunsheng put away the telescope and took out his bow, "Everyone shouted and rushed over to let Marquis Funing hear!"
Zhu Qi, who had been fighting hard for nearly two hours, almost collapsed.
If it weren't for the cavalry who chased him later and needed to return to the formation to change horses, he wouldn't be able to hold on now.
But the opponent can change horses, but he can't.
If it weren't for the current ice and snow, no one would be able to raise the horse's speed to the fastest speed, and the horses of his generals would not be able to sustain it now.
If we continue, we really won’t be able to hold on any longer. Even though his subordinates are elite soldiers who are good at equestrian skills, they really don’t have much experience in engaging in such high-intensity cavalry battles on the winter grasslands.
He began to regret a series of decisions. Facts have proved that the gap between him and people like Wang Shouren, Tang Shunzhi, and Yu Dayou is really big.
The promise to the emperor now seems a bit ridiculous. Tang Shunzhi should have listened. The cavalry should protect the infantry, and all the way along the north bank of the Yellow River, just determine the place where the prisoners would cross the river, and fight steadily.
In despair, the only option is to die in battle to avoid dishonoring the reputation of our ancestors.
There is no way to escape anyway.
However, there was a shout and the sound of horse hooves from the west.
The sound was not loud, and both warring parties looked at each other in astonishment.
Zhu Qi took a hasty glance and felt a chill in his heart, because they were all riding horses and wearing Tatar clothes.
But then, he caught a glimpse of the generals' flags. Although he couldn't see clearly, he heard their faint shouts: "The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"
Authentic Chinese accent.
The Taolu were shocked because only a few hundred people came.
They can be sure that they are not friendly forces, so there are only a few hundred people, so what's the use?
However, Zhu Qi's subordinates were overjoyed: "Master Marquis, this is Zhen'an Bo!"
Zhu Qi knew that he might have been a little dizzy, so his eyesight was not as good as that of his subordinates.
Now he was also in high spirits: "You read that right? It's a special operations battalion?"
"Absolutely true!"
"There's help! There's help!" Zhu Qi shouted with all his strength, "Leave over, come over!"
The special operations battalion is here, and your life will be saved!
How could someone of Zhu Qi's level not know about the special operations camp? How could he not know Yan Chunsheng's abilities?
The Taolu didn't know that they only separated a thousand-man team to intercept Yan Chunsheng and others who were coming. The rest of them speeded up to surround Zhu Qi.
When it comes to horse warfare, how can they be afraid of the Ming army?
Then Yan Chunsheng, who was leading the way, shouted in a voice that was already familiar to him: "The camp in the southwest, your camp with nearly 100,000 people, has been wiped out by us! The person who shot Bodi to death is me! Daming Zhen'an
The uncle arrived first, and the heavenly soldiers arrived soon after! Kill!"
Accompanying his shouts are his unparalleled skills in bow and archery.
The words are false, but the ability is true.
Zhu Qi burst into tears when he saw the leader of the thousand-man team fall off his horse.
No matter what, he took it seriously.
Although the credit is gone, this life has been saved.
The special operations camp is so terrifying! Tang Shunzhi is so terrifying!
Did nearly 100,000 people die in World War I?
On the 21st of November in the 11th year of Jiajing, ten days after Zhu Houcong came out of the border wall, this encounter broke out south of Fengzhou Beach. Later historians always found it incredible.
There were a total of 2,600 and 30,000 Northern barbarians before and after the Ming army. How could it be such a coincidence and how could they be so strong?
At this moment, Yan Chunsheng established his power with one arrow, and the animals in the special operations camp shouted in unison: "Wonderful feat! Wonderful feat!"
Their boss was facing 60,000 to 70,000 Tatars, and said that with 600 of them, they could replace 10 to 20% of the Tatars.
And Shi Yemingye, the guard cavalry of the Taolu tribe, who had been walked by Zhu Qi for nearly two hours, felt the outrageous combat power after encountering only 600 new animals from the special operations battalion.
Especially after they got close, about a hundred people dismounted and fired five squatting cannons from the horses carrying supplies.
"boom!"
They actually focused on attacking Lele's convoy and turned a blind eye to other cavalry.
The question is, in the face of the Mongolian cavalry who wanted to rush them and disperse them, why did everyone in this group of Ming troops protecting them miss their arrows, and no one of the cavalry could get closer than thirty steps?