Chongzhen Undergraduates

After just one night's rest, the Ming army looked alive and well.The horses of the Mongols were scattered. Everyone thought that the Ming army would distribute the horses among them, and some officers would choose them first.

However, the Ming army did not concentrate war horses at all, but divided them in the form of grassland areas. Each unit was assigned an area, regardless of officers and soldiers, and received war horses in order of the team. No one was picky at all.The seemingly chaotic scene can ensure that all combat units can be launched at the same time.

The Ming army came fast and went fast!Only an hour later, there were only a few dozen Ming troops left on the grasslands of Ulan Bator as leftovers.

The three sweaters stared blankly at the already somewhat empty grassland as if they were in a dream.

"Isn't this a dream?! The fight was in full swing yesterday, but today it's withdrawn like this?" Chechen Khan pinched himself hard.

"Our horses are gone. This is definitely not a dream." Only then did the Khalkhas remember that they had become Daming people now.

"Go ahead, you must control the speed of your advance, and don't tire the horse to death." Zhu Cihong's equestrian skills are really good, and he can easily control the unfamiliar mount.

Horses are human companions, but if the rider and the horse are unfamiliar, it is also difficult to control.This is the situation that the Ming army is facing now, but this situation is just right, because there is still a long way to go, and running too fast is not good for the schedule.

"Eldest Prince, according to your estimate, how many days will it take for us to go back?" Li Dingguo asked.

"It will take ten days. There must be a full day for the soldiers to rest." Zhu Cihong said.

"But we only have seven days, otherwise we won't be able to make it to Chahar." Li Dingguo frowned. He had never fought such a high-intensity raid, and it was normal for him to miscalculate.

"Then change the battle plan. Instead of going to Chahar, we will go to Guisui instead." Zhu Cihong said, "It depends on whether the emperor can hold out in Chahar."

Li Dingguo thought for a while, and felt that what Zhu Cihong said made sense.If the Zhun Ge'er cavalry does not go well in attacking Chahar, they will definitely turn around and flee westward.In terms of time, it happened to arrive in Guisui on the tenth day.They will not be able to catch up with Chahar, and the battle plan must be changed.

Chapter 7 Eleven: The End of an Era ([-])

Unlike the farmlands everywhere in later generations, Chahar at this time is a huge livestock land in Daming.Although the traditional breeding mode is still the main one, large-scale processing plants have been established, such as primary wool processing, meat processing plants, and primary leather processing.

There is no city here, and positions must be established for defense.This was a battle in which the Ming army had never actually fought with the fortifications of the field army to resist a large-scale cavalry attack.Although the Ming army has conducted countless such drills, the first actual combat still inevitably lacks confidence.

Please remember, this is not the Bali Bridge, and Zhungeer is not Seng Gelinqin who only knows how to attack and die.

As soon as Zhu Youjian arrived in Ulanqab, he received a telegram from Li Dingguo to change the battle plan.

"From my point of view, Zhu Cihong's suggestion is very good. It is a good thing that the child can do it when he grows up. But there is still one link missing in the whole combat deployment." Zhu Youjian said to Wang Chengen with a smile.

"Long live, these old slaves don't understand." Hearing Zhu Youjian's praise of Zhu Cihong, Wang Chengen laughed and said, "But this old slave feels that father and son are fighting against brothers. This time, the emperor and the three princes It’s really nice to play together.”

"Father, my son also wants to go to the battlefield to see how the elder brother and the third younger brother killed the enemy." Zhu Cijiong stood behind and was excited.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about. There must be pursuers behind the enemy, otherwise how can we know the direction of their escape." Zhu Youjian said: "I have no doubt that we can win the defensive battle here. But the enemy After discovering the truth, it may not be possible to retreat along the original route. Sending people to collect all the horses left behind by Chahar may be useful.”

It's still early, but the big battle is just around the corner, and the entire Ulanqab has been mobilized.All the herdsmen began to concentrate and move. Those who could retreat to the Great Wall would retreat to the Great Wall, those who could go to the east would go to the east, and those who could not retreat would gather within the defense line.In short, all non-combatants avoided the frontal battlefield.In other words, within the range of the formation of cavalry two days outside the second line of defense, they were evacuated.

On the defense line, the [-] field army relied on the terrain to form two defense lines in the west and north directions.Judging from the terrain, if Zhun Ge'er wanted to attack, he could only come from the west and north.To the west is the road from Guisui to Ulanqab, while to the north is the prairie.Of course, the focus of defense is on the west side, while the north side will have ravines and ravines.

As generals, Liu Tichun and Yuan Zong No.1 were in charge of defense, and Emperor Zhu Youjian of the Ming Dynasty personally sat in Wulanchabu.Of course, a battle meeting must be held for combat. At the battle meeting chaired by Zhu Youjian himself, a large number of generals, large and small, are studying how to deploy.

"Old Liu, I ask you how you want to fight this battle?" Zhu Youjian asked Liu Tichun with a smile.

Liu Tichun is also considered a veteran, and it is estimated that he should retire after this battle.

"Needless to say, our old Liu placed his troops in the front and formed a spear array, and he was afraid that the thieves would rush over." Liu Tichun said carelessly, he fully believed in the strength of the Ming army and the advanced weapons and equipment.

"No! This strategy has too many casualties." Just as Liu Tichun was talking, a discordant voice sounded in the hall.

"Who? Who's talking?" Old Liu was upset, because he had slapped him in the face in front of the emperor.

"Speak up if you have something to say!" Zhu Youjian said.

Everyone made way for a vacancy, and a lieutenant-colonel-level officer hiding behind the crowd blushed.

"Let's talk about it." Zhu Youjian beckoned, encouraging the other party to move forward.

"Ma Bao, you kid, don't harm everyone." Liu Tichun had a murderous look in his eyes.

The officer in front of him was obviously Liu Tichun in his teens, but he was about the same age as Li Laiheng.But as soon as the name Ma Bao came out, Zhu Youjian's eyes lit up immediately.It should be said that Ma Bao is also a person who broke into the army, and when Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he was still the deputy commander of the old battalion, and his rank was not lower than Liu Tichun.But later he took a detour and took refuge in Wu Sangui.

This is a person with historical stains, and everyone thinks that Zhu Youjian will not reuse such a person.

"Please look, Your Majesty: The valley to the west is wide. According to the mountains on both sides, the middle area is more than [-] miles away, which is not conducive to the placement of artillery. The infantry has no artillery support, and the firepower is not enough to block the enemy with rifles. Even if they barely block the enemy's attack Attack, there will be casualties."

Everyone is not a cook, in fact, everyone knows this fact in their hearts.The artillery is to clear the way for the infantry to attack, and the infantry must protect the artillery.In the final analysis, it is to concentrate superior firepower to gather and annihilate the enemy.And to line up troops on such a wide frontal battlefield must disperse the troops.

The enemy is not stupid, they will definitely use the method of spreading fire on the two wings and concentrating on the center to break through the line of defense.

"Tell me about your method." Zhu Youjian looked at Ma Bao with encouraging eyes and said.

"I thought: Our army should carry out large-scale earthworks on the frontal battlefield. Form multiple small formations all over the battlefield, and change the north-south line of defensive positions into east-west defenses in depth to allow the enemy to attack, but Can’t eat every independent position”

"Ma Bao, you are planning to let the enemy in!" Someone said dissatisfied.

"They can't get in. According to the terrain, the entire defense is twenty miles deep. Even if an enemy can break in, it's already at the end of their battle." Ma Bao's eyes gradually became confident under Zhu Youjian's encouragement.

"I agree with Ma Bao's strategy. Promote Ma Bao to be the temporary Chief of Staff, gather all the hands, and start the soil work. It must be completed on time before the arrival of the enemy." Zhu Youjian made a final decision and promoted Ma Bao before the battle.

According to Ma Bao's subordinates, only a small number of troops were deployed on the highlands on both sides according to the mountain situation, but a large number of interception fortifications such as wooden horses, deer villages, and barbed wire were placed.On the plain twenty miles from east to west, independent circular or oval defensive positions 500 meters apart were built.These positions are surrounded by ditches, supplemented by barbed wire, horses, wooden piles, etc. as peripheral protection, behind which sandbags are built, trenches are dug, and artillery positions are located inside.

From a distance, the Ming army built many small earth bags, and the outside of the earth bags was a deep trench with cannons erected on the earth bags.If you just stand in the front, you will never see how many such dirt bags are behind.

The amount of work is really huge, but fortunately, soil work has become a common practice in the field army of the Ming army. Everyone knows that there are tough battles, and they have to work even if they don't sleep.

After all the people worked for seven days, they finally finished building the fortifications.That night, under the light of the stars and lights, all the soldiers of the Ming Army were lying on the construction site tired, sleeping very soundly.

Chapter 7 Twelve: The End of an Era ([-])

In the dark night, Galdan had already seen the lights in front of him, but he was not excited at all, instead he felt anxious.

Zhun Ge'er's cavalry arrived at the battlefield in the middle of the night, but this was not the best time to attack.After all, coming from a long distance, even if people don't rest, war horses still have to rest.With so many troops, the arrival time also has a sequence.Therefore, the Zhungeer cavalry dismounted ten miles away to rest. Normally, they had to rest for a day before they could start attacking, especially when the cavalry rushed, they would not launch an attack as soon as they arrived.Horsepower can't keep up.

"Brother, I have already investigated, and this is a complete set. The Ming army on the opposite side has already repaired the fortifications, and is waiting for us to attack." Galdan said to Zenger.

"It's all here, and there is no movement in the north, and you still say such things." Zeng was very unhappy, because Ge Erdan said too many things against his decision along the way, even if he was a brother, he would not take it with him. Such.

The next day, there was no fighting.But the area between the positions of the two sides was surprisingly quiet.Not only was there no one, but even the wind that blew past was terrifying.

Quiet, the only feeling here is quiet!

In the early morning of the third day, when the sky in the east was pale, the sentinel of the Ming army's first battlefield suddenly felt a wave of heat coming from the west.This feeling is very subtle, he just feels that the air in the west is a little hotter than usual in the morning.Moreover, the air coming from the west carried a little fishy smell.

When the sky became brighter, the sentinel was surprised to find that just a few hundred meters away, a large black cloud lay motionless on the grassland.

A whistle sounded in a hurry, and then the entire Ming army's position panicked, and the sound of the trumpet was transmitted to the rear one after another.

"Kill!" Zhun Geer's cavalry began to attack, and they rushed towards the Ming army's position like a black flood.

Looking down from the sky, on the front of the battlefield, the first to face the enemy were three independent positions. They were immediately surrounded by black crowds and were constantly under attack.And the flow of black people was also diverted into four tributaries at this moment, and continued to flow backward.All of a sudden, gunshots rang out, and flames, explosions, and the neighing of war horses rang through the head of the battlefield.