Chapter 75 The Battle of Shahe, Kong Youde's Fright
December 17th.
After the number of young and strong people sent to the camp in Guanzhuang Village reached the 5,000 mark, Zhang Xianglong stopped the "prisoners exchanged for silver coins and armor" trade.
It will bring huge backlash. Now that the first pot of gold has been earned, it is time to start studying how to deal with the Dongjiang rebels.
"Yes, we have long wanted to deal with those rebels who don't know the heights of the earth."
The commander-in-chief Yang Yufan said sarcastically that before he had no confidence in defeating the rebels, but now he has. Five thousand people brought him three thousand sets of plate armor and alloy knives, and a full sixty thousand silver dollars. These money
Most of them were replaced with canned meat, compressed biscuits, cotton-padded clothes and other supplies produced by Xujiazhuang. Now the whole army is well fed and clothed, with high morale and confidence, and they no longer take the rebels seriously.
"Okay, our two armies will join forces tomorrow, and then send a small group of elites to carry out harassment tactics against the rebels outside Laizhou City. We may not necessarily fight them head-on, but try to capture as many prisoners as possible. If the rebels react violently
, dispatched in full force, we will lead them to the preset battlefield, and then attack with the whole army, striving to annihilate them all, leaving no one behind!"
Facing the sand table map, Zhang Xianglong proposed the strategic concept provided by Xujiazhuang.
"According to Mr. Zhang's plan, we will fully cooperate with him."
Commander-in-chief Yang Yufan and Wang Hong nodded repeatedly without any disagreement. Although they represented the imperial army and had no reason to obey the arrangements of a businessman, they now eat and use Xujiazhuang's products, and they still have the control in Xujiazhuang's hands.
Naturally, their bodies have become much softer, and as long as the strategy is not a big problem, they will obey it.
The commander-in-chief Deng Qi had nothing to say. Zhang Xianglong's strategy for dealing with the enemy was very good. He would harass the enemy first, and with the rampant arrogance of the rebels, they would definitely retaliate. At that time, all he had to do was set up pocket formations, wait for work, and rely on the two armies to add up to nearly two
With a strength of 10,000, the rebels can only come and go without coming back!
…
18th.
After some arrangements and deployment, the miners' coalition and the imperial army each selected 1,500 elites, all equipped with horses, to form a mobile force of 3,000, and then divided them into ten teams, each with 300 people.
Then use the walkie-talkie provided by Xujiazhuang with a communication range of 20 miles to communicate.
Focus on attacking the rebels' logistics, reinforcements and isolated troops. If you encounter a small group of rebels, the small team can eat it alone; if you encounter a large group of rebels with about a thousand people, use the wolf pack tactic, with multiple small groups
The detachments swarmed forward, tearing them apart and carving them up. In short, they continued to use local superior forces to gradually weaken, encroach and eliminate the rebels!
…
Ten miles outside Laizhou City.
Rebel camp.
Mao Xilong, a member of the Dongjiang rebels, was originally from Liaodong and came from a miserable background. He later followed Marshal Mao Wenlong to fight against the Hou Jin Dynasty. Because of his bravery, he became one of Mao Shuai's many adopted grandsons, and was given the title of Mao Xilong.
name.
During the period of fighting against the Jin in Dongjiang Town, Mao Xilong did not want to recall too much and could only describe it as bitter. The reason why we were able to unite together was because Mao Shuai treated everyone equally and could share joys and sorrows, so he could survive no matter how difficult it was.
.
Later, Marshal Mao was killed by a senior official of the imperial court, and everyone's hearts were chilled.
Later, Marshal Kong Youde was recruited by Sun Yuanhua, the governor of Denglai, and came to Dengzhou, Shandong to take root and develop. To be honest, Mr. Sun was very good to them. Not only did he give them food and salary, but he also hired hundreds of Western instructors.
Teach them how to use firearms and operate artillery, and train them into an elite army.
But just two years after these good days, there was another war in Liaodong. The imperial court wanted to send them back to that sad place and wanted them to die, without ever considering their feelings.
It’s the other way around!
It’s the other way around!
On that night of the mutiny, Mao Xilong was one of the loudest people, releasing his dissatisfaction and anger.
Then came the crazy killing and venting. Officials and gentry, kill! Businessmen and common people, rob! Beautiful girls, hey hey hey, unleash their desires on the heads of the weak.
After that, there is anxiety and uneasiness. The imperial army is coming to encircle and suppress them, and they will never tolerate it. Can they defeat the imperial army?
The Shandong soldiers came one after another, hitting them with firecrackers and artillery. The Shandong soldiers were defeated by them.
Soldiers and horses from Hebei and soldiers and horses from Ji Town also came. With a blast of firecrackers and artillery, these foreign soldiers and horses were also defeated by them.
"Killing the soldiers of the imperial court is like cutting vegetables. I have no choice but to do anything! The soldiers in each town are not my enemies. They only worry about the soldiers outside the pass."
In private, Mao Xilong said to his subordinates with an arrogant look, which can be described as extremely inflated.
Because the troops and horses sent by the imperial court were too weak, the rebels even changed their siege strategy. Instead of attacking Laizhou City, they attacked the imperial reinforcements from various places because they were sending them food and grain.
Supplies, soldiers and horses are sent, and if they continue to fight like this, they will actually become stronger and stronger. It is not a fantasy to establish a country of warriors.
It's just that the situation is getting better and better.
In recent days, all kinds of bad news have begun to come out.
"The grain team transporting grain from Dengzhou has been attacked six times. All the grain has disappeared. For three consecutive days, not a single grain of grain has been delivered."
"Two thousand troops stationed in Huang County were ambushed while chasing the bandits out of the city, and the entire army was wiped out."
"The camp was attacked last night. The granary was burned down. There was less than five days of food left. The powder magazine exploded, causing more than 2,000 casualties."
Not good.
Not only the upper echelons of the rebels began to feel something was wrong, but also middle- and lower-level people like Mao Xilong.
"Look! Go out and search for me. We must find traces of the attackers. I will skin them and tear apart their bones!" Deputy Commander Li Jiucheng was angry and personally led three thousand cavalry out of the camp, vowing to attack them.
Kill them all without leaving any one behind.
Mao Xilong also left the camp, taking more than a hundred of his brothers with him. In this freezing weather, they had to conduct a dragnet-like search of the surrounding area and never allow the attackers to succeed again.
The weather was cold, so Mao Xilong and his 100 brothers were a little reluctant, and the inspection was very slow. In one day, they only walked less than ten miles. In the evening, they found a place to camp and rest on the spot.
Fortunately, they were lucky. They actually picked up a wild boar that was killed by a hunter's trap. It weighed hundreds of kilograms. This made everyone overjoyed. They set up a fire and roasted the whole pig, and then feasted on it every day.
Everyone ate less than half a catty, and Mao Xilong ate the most.
Wow.
Maybe because he ate too much greasy food, Mao Xilong started to have a stomachache. He found a big tree with leeward wind, and asked a few brothers to stand in a row to protect him from the wind. He took off his pants and started to take off his pants. Suddenly, there was a heavy sound of horse hooves.
It came from all directions.
"not good!"
Mao Xilong's expression changed greatly, but the sky was dark, and the sound of horse hooves increased rapidly. It was too late to run away, and he immediately realized that he had fallen into a trap. The wild boar was the bait. In more than an hour from roasting to eating, it was enough to lay out an inescapable trap.
The dragnet has been dropped.
"Come closer to me and form a formation to defend against the enemy!"
Mao Xilong responded well and responded immediately, but he was naked and still defecating. With that spreading stench, who would want to get close to him? It was just a group of three or five people, forming small groups.
Formation, pick up a sword or a blunderbuss and be on high alert.
However, when the enemy cavalry approached, they suddenly threw out strong fishing nets, just enough to cover three or five people. They tightened them tightly and dragged them with horses. They immediately lost the ability to resist. Even if they struggled desperately, they could not resist.
I can't break free from that fishing net.
"We will not kill those who surrender! Those who do not resist will not be killed!" said the commander riding on a big horse.
"Shoot that man!" Mao Xilong immediately pointed at the horseman and said.
Bang bang bang bang bang!
Our own gunners had just finished loading, but before they had time to fire, they were shot to death amidst several explosions. The other men were so frightened that they immediately dropped their weapons and knelt down to surrender.
"Don't surrender. We are thieves. The army will not let us go. It is better to surrender than to die in battle!" Mao Xilong roared, taking a simple knife and beheading those who surrendered.
But at this moment, a single-person fishing net landed on his head very accurately, and then he tightened it!
"I don't accept it. You are shamelessly making a sneak attack. If we fight head-on, you will definitely not be our opponents!"
Mao Xilong, who was caught in the fishing net, struggled desperately and screamed unwillingly!
But the cavalrymen on horseback ignored his struggle at all. After roughly counting the number of prisoners, they excitedly discussed that the harvest tonight was good, and they caught a lot of big fish, which could be exchanged for xx amount of silver coins or xx
The equipment they were wearing, and the way they looked at the captives, were completely in the nature of treating property.
Mao Xilong's heart sank to the bottom, and he realized that his fate was no longer under his control.
…
December 26th.
The rebel general Li Jiucheng, who went out to search for the attackers, returned with his cavalry, but he only brought back 1,500 men, and almost all of them were wounded.
But he also found the location of the attackers' base camp, which was about forty miles away in Shahe. There were about 8,000 imperial troops gathered there, all of whom were well-equipped soldiers. Li Jiucheng led 3,000 cavalry into the battle and returned defeated.
, almost being surrounded and unable to come back.
"Brother Jiucheng, are you sure the imperial army only has 8,000 men?" Kong Youde asked.
"At most eight thousand people, plus the cavalry that harassed us, up to ten thousand people! But the armor is strong and can't be broken without fire cannons. As long as we bring the fire cannon battalion and pull up the three hundred general cannons, we will definitely be able to break it.
We have defeated this army camp! Marshal Du, we still have 20,000 elite soldiers and are equipped with firearms. As long as we defeat this army camp, by the beginning of next spring, no army will attack us, and we can return.
Let’s take a good rest in Dengzhou,” Li Jiucheng said.
"Okay, brother Jiucheng, I will give you 20,000 elite soldiers, and we must destroy this army!"
Kong Youde gritted his teeth and said that the total number of rebels was just over 30,000, and the rest were civilians, family members, and prisoners who were held hostage. They had been attacked by the imperial cavalry in the past few days and had lost more than 5,000. If the 20,000 elites were again
If he couldn't win, then the situation would really take a turn for the worse, so he had to spend his capital and make a heavy bet to annihilate all the officers and soldiers in the land of Shahe!
…
December 28, afternoon.
The Battle of Shahe broke out.
After the two sides set up their posture, Li Jiucheng opened his eyes wide in this valley terrain area and saw in disbelief that not only the opposite side of the valley, but also the ridge lines on both sides of the valley were densely packed with imperial officers and soldiers.
The number of people is no less than 15,000, forming a vague situation of surrounding ourselves on three sides.
Moreover, there is no trace of the official cavalry. Once a stalemate occurs on the battlefield and the official cavalry suddenly appears, it is likely to be a collapse of Mount Tai.
Although he felt bad, Li Jiuzheng did not flinch, because he had 20,000 elite troops, equipped with nearly 10,000 Western-style muskets, and more than 300 general cannons. The advantage was on his side, and there was no way he could lose!
The military formations on both sides began to move.
On the side of the imperial army, a gray-green phalanx of more than 500 people suddenly walked out. Each man was armed with a strange firearm. From a distance of two hundred feet, he launched an attack on his own firecrackers, with an endless stream of bang bang bang bang.
, one round was fired in just three to five breaths, and each round of shooting could cause hundreds of people to bleed and fall to the ground. However, our own firearms soldiers spent a long time firing more than ten rounds, but the opponent was not injured at all, and not a single kill was achieved.
Collapse!
When our own side's nearly 10,000 gunners suffered more than 2,000 casualties and the other side suffered zero casualties, their morale completely collapsed and they no longer dared to engage in shooting.
"General Cannon, use the General Cannon to bombard that imperial firearms army!"
Li Jiucheng gave the order and prepared for the artillery to come forward and use the artillery to destroy the sharp firearms army.
But the order to launch a general attack was sounded, and the imperial officers and soldiers on the opposite side and on the ridges on both sides came from three sides and launched attacks at the same time.
Buzz buzz~
The sound of intensive horse hoofbeats sounded, and the imperial court's three thousand cavalry appeared on the battlefield and headed straight for the rebel artillery positions.
In fact, at this time, the very resilient rebels showed no signs of defeat. As long as the imperial troops and horses came within fifty steps, that was the best range for the fire gun soldiers. Within this death distance, not even ten thousand officers and soldiers would die.
, don’t even think about getting into close combat.
However, almost all the imperial officers and soldiers wore half-body plate armor with extremely strong defensive power. Within twenty steps, it was difficult for fire blunderbuss projectiles to penetrate the armor.
After rushing within twenty steps, the grenadier at the front lit the fuse, threw the sugar grenade in his hand into the crowd of rebel gunmen, and then——
Boom boom boom boom!
The situation of Taishan collapse appeared.
…
evening.
Rebel camp.
A messenger covered in blood entered the commander's account.
"We lost, we lost the battle of Shahe! The army was ambushed on all sides, Vice Admiral Li was beheaded, and all 20,000 elite troops were wiped out. Marshal Du, we are finished!" the ordering soldier knelt down and said.
"What?"
"How is that possible?"
"The officers and soldiers have always been weak, this..."
In an uproar.
Kong Youde, who was sitting in the commander's seat, shook violently and felt extremely frightened.