Chapter 397: The War Begins

The outside movement did not even wake up Li Meng who was sleeping. He shot the two-pound cannon and one-pound cannon, but then the fire was fired by the musket wheels, completely killing the cavalry of the Eight Banners who he thought was scheming.

Tan Tai, the chief general of the Huangqi Banner, died directly under the shelling. The camp of the Manchu and Mongolian army, which was originally preparing to come out for the night attack, quickly calmed down. The two yellow flags followed the night attack cavalry, barely stopped the rushing force of the mounts before rushing in, and finally turned back.

However, the two yellow flag cavalry who retreated quickly almost did not even enter their own camp because the camp gate was already closed, and the entire camp was mobilized to guard the camp in case the Ming army on the opposite side took the opportunity to attack in. After a long time of struggle, he did not see any movement in the Ming army on the opposite side. But as it was about to dawn, I was afraid that I would have to prepare for the daytime battle.

After the Manchu and Mongolian army, who had been tired all day, did not have a good rest after such a fuss at night, many people felt even more tired.

The camp in Jiaozhou Camp always has a place that looks careless and has weak defenses, making people feel that they can break into this gap. However, behind the gap in this defense circle, relatively strong firepower is usually set up. Most of the guards and mobile troops at night are placed here.

This is a psychological trap. People who can come out to rob the camp in the evening usually have the idea of ​​speculation and risk. If there is such a gap, it will always attract people to take the bait.

The cavalry of the two yellow flags collided with this trap. The Jiaozhou Camp's old camp was to learn from Chen Liu's Huai Yang army, and fought with the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo. The two sides confronted the camps, and they were always between the robbery camp and the anti-robbery camp. The battle was fierce and they were full of tricks.

The sound of gunfire and the charge of the two yellow flag cavalry was indeed quite powerful, and many soldiers resting around the gap were awakened. However, there were strict regulations for who should react and who should not act. Each battalion had corresponding tasks and a range of duty. It was difficult to disturb the entire Jiaozhou battalion.

After this attack, the morale of the Tartars' camp became even lower. The identity of the chieftain of Zhenghuang Banner Tan Tai was different from that of other nobles in the banner. He was a general of Emperor Taiji Xinzhong. In the era of Nurhaci, he made considerable contributions in the battles between the south and the north.

Who would have thought that he lost his life in tonight's night attack. This was the first senior general who died after encountering this strange Ming army. Moreover, the two yellow flags were also one of the most elite groups among the flags, and they were also lost many at night. Everyone has this conclusion that tomorrow's battle will probably be even more difficult to fight.

It was already this situation, and there was no idea of ​​going out to rob the camp again, and some people were cautiously talking to Abatai. Is it a suggestion that the entire army escape to the north while it was dark? If the battle was not imminent the next day, Abatai would have really thought of drawing a knife to cut him down?

The Manchu and Mongolian army are so large. If you retreat north at night, you will not be confused. If you are not surprised at night, you will be a tragedy of the collapse of the entire army. In the Ming Dynasty, what will happen after the Manchu and Mongolian soldiers who have been alone? The fate will definitely be a dead end. This will be unbeaten and defeated.

Now, my plan is to rest as much as possible, wait for the next day's decisive battle, and fight to the death, and maybe I can have a glimmer of hope.

Thirty cavalrymen with the blue flags led more than a hundred horses toward the west of the two camps confronting each other. It was too dangerous to go directly to the north. It would be better to move horizontally first and then turn north. The success might be a little bigger. Abatai did not sleep, and stood in the Wangstou and watched the person who reported the news far away. He could also hear and sense that the Ming army's camp responded in time, and cavalry chased him out.

This hope is better than nothing. I hope I can return to the outside of the pass to report the letter, but what if I report the letter? Can reinforcements be sent here to rescue the army? I am afraid that the destruction of his own army will make the banner owners of several banners happy to see it. When Abatai thought of this, he couldn't help but smiled mockingly.

It was not only the Tartars' army, but also the Dengzhou army, twenty miles away from the Tartars' army, but it was difficult for them to fall asleep. However, this was not because of danger, but because of excitement. They could participate in the war the next day, and the troops and troops led by the commander were excited.

On the morning of the second day of the twelfth lunar month of the 15th year of Chongzhen, the sound of the bronze horn kicked off the day. The skylight appeared, and the generals and leaders of the Manchu Eight Banners and the Mongolian Eight Banners began to gather in various battalions. Some people were extremely tired last night and fell asleep at this time. But it was impossible to continue to sleep. The officers of the Tartars don’t care about the kindness and harmony now. The whips in their hands are whipping and tossing people.

It is said that the commander of this army always mobilized and aroused the soldiers below at such a critical moment, but Abatai, Yue Le, Tulichen and others were all in a low mood and full of solemnity. Who would care about these things?

The attention of the Manchu and Mongolian generals was on the opposite Ming army camp. After the bronze horn sounded, the rumbling drum sound was followed. At this time, the entire Ming army camp began to turn from quiet to noisy until the entire camp was boiling.

The meal should be before the drum sounded. Under the rhythm of the drum sound, the gates of the Ming army camp were opened, and soldiers came out one after another and lined up in front of the camp.

The terrain in Dongguang County is not as flat as the battlefield yesterday. Jiaozhou Camp chose to camp, but it was a slightly inclined slope.

The troops led by Li Meng were all arranged on the top of the slope, and the Tartar soldiers gathered their troops yesterday and were extremely tired. They just camped around the station. They didn't expect that there would be an advantage in the terrain. For such a slope, people may just feel a little uncomfortable or even feel tired when they walk down from bottom to top.

However, for the large army, the subtle discomfort caused by flat and slopes may lead to the scattering of the entire army formation, the rapid arrival of soldiers' fatigue, and other side effects. For veterans like Abatai, he will certainly not ignore this problem.

But yesterday, I retreated in a hurry and made many tricks, and I couldn't care about anything...

The flag was waving and the sound of war drums, the infantry formations of Jiaozhou Battalion slowly poured out. Each battalion reached its predetermined position, and the whole team was on standby. Following the infantry, the artillery team of Jiaozhou Battalion was dragged out. Parts of the right wing and the central army were placed.

Seeing these artillery, the generals of the Tartars gasped from top to bottom. The Ming army's artillery had so many magical artillery, and there were almost more than 60 artillery pieces of all sizes. How to fight this battle?

The last one appeared in front of everyone was the cavalry team and Li Meng's personal soldiers. The cavalry team did not move fast, no matter how fast the infantry was moving, but the whole team was not as chaotic as the infantry team. Seeing this, all the Tartar generals who saw this scene were more shocked than the artillery just now, because the horse team made such a performance, they were already the first-class elite.

And judging from this posture, it is clearly the appearance of a heavy cavalry. It is the strongest soldier on the battlefield.

When the cavalry team finished standing, Li Meng, covered in silver armor and blood-red cloak, surrounded by his personal soldiers, began to march along the front from right to left.

His outfit was extremely conspicuous. Of course, as long as the armor on his body was polished, it would have the effect of silver armor. The blood-red cloak behind him also had the glaring look. Walking before the troops, he was the loyalty of everyone. The personal soldiers behind him were all wearing round-armed iron armor, with straight waists, and erecting the cavalry and spears in his hands. The Jiaozhou Camp commander Li Meng in front of him became more and more powerful.

The enough sleep in one night has eliminated a lot of fatigue from the road. Now Li Meng is energetic. Before leaving the camp, he specially cleansed his hair and beard, making people look even more energetic. Li Meng slowly controlled his horse and advanced the rhythmic sound of horse hooves behind him. Looking at his soldiers, his heart was full of passion.

As for the Tartars soldiers and horses on the other side, he didn't care at all. Li Meng was already extremely confident at this time. With such soldiers and horses in his hands, there was no place in the world. Zhao Neng's battle situation had already made a rough description of the interception cavalry that was intercepted. Zhao Neng's Dengzhou army responded to the mistakes, fought with less and more, and even fought such a battle example, so what about his old camp soldiers?

Of course, it was no problem. Li Meng raised his left arm and waved to the soldiers beside him. The mighty and majestic force of Li Meng and the personal soldiers behind him made the morale of the Jiaozhou Camp's old camp to a higher level, and everyone's hearts were surging and their blood was boiling.

"The great general is mighty! The great general is mighty!!"

Wang Hai, who was behind Li Meng, shouted loudly when he was halfway through, and the soldiers standing there answered in unison. Li Meng shook the reins slightly, and the horses accelerated. He clenched his fists, waved his arms, and shouted:

"I am Jiaozhou Camp, Wansheng!!"

The shouts were like a tide, and the troops responded with a rainbow of momentum. Even the personal soldiers behind Li Meng shouted:

"Thousands of victories! Thousands of victories!!!"

The entire battlefield was filled with their shouts, while the Tartar army opposite was extremely quiet. No one spoke or spoke. Only the occasional shouting of the military generals was considered to be a little disturbing. Many of the officers and leaders of Manchu and Mongolia found that the soldiers were different from their subordinates and were unable to turn around and responded negatively.

The soldiers looked like this, and the officers and leaders of Manchu and Mongolia were also dejected. The battle during the day and the disturbance at night were really exhausting. Moreover, looking at the posture opposite, compared to the strange Ming army yesterday, they were probably only stronger and not weak, at least not much worse.

Yesterday's battle was more and less, but in the end it was still the same. Today, what kind of ending will there be if the fight with less and more? When encountering such an ending, no one will have any high morale.

"Daluhua, Luhutai, you go back to the camp and bring out all the remaining troops!"

Abatai did not hold the whip in his hand, but placed it on the knife handle, with a very cautious expression. If he had met the Ming army for the first time and did not have the energy of yesterday, Abatai would definitely have to preach loudly in the army. For example, these soldiers and horses were all kinds of varied things, and our Manchu and Meng Jianer rode in and would definitely disintegrate.

After yesterday's hard battle, if we preach this way today, we will definitely have a very bad counter-effect. We will not say it. However, the genius, assistant leaders and nobles of each banner gathered around us and explained these words in advance. It was today's battle. If we can't, we will all die here.

This is the way for the miserable soldiers to win, and they will be killed before they can be born. General Abatai was ordered to thank the Ming general yesterday. If he had not beheaded all the prisoners of the North Korean, Mongolian and Han army, he would probably have dispersed his morale.

Now that I know that even if I surrender, I will be killed, and there is only one way to fight to the death. You must know that yesterday's slaves from the Korean, Mongolian and Han army were much closer to the Ming army than the Manchu Eight Banners and Mongolian Eight Banners.

Daluhua and Luhutai were both military generals who led their troops to stay in the camp, and some of the supplies and food were placed in this camp. At that time, they considered that if the war was unfavorable, they would return to the camp to defend.

But when you see the dozens of cannons on the other side, all your minds have disappeared. Even if you return to the camp to defend, what can you do? Can the other party's cannon still be unable to be bombarded? Just let's go out of the camp and fight.

The choice given to the Tartar army is to fight with all their might, and there is no other choice. General Abatai was ordered to wave his head and look at the gaps between the two armies, leaving room for large groups of cavalry to escape, whether on the left or on the right.

But seeing that the opponent's cavalry was also large, if he ran away rashly, the tired soldiers would face the opponent after a night of full rest and were chased by someone behind him. He would probably end up in great trouble. He sighed in his heart, and he could only fight one way to go.

Under the oppression of the opponent's front, General Abatai was ordered to not even complete the calm formation. Moreover, his troops were only Manchurian cavalry.

The formations arranged by General Abatai were arranged by the orders were that the Manchu Eight Banners and the Mongolian Eight Banners were on the right wing, while the remaining Han Eight Banners and the Mongolian scattered soldiers following on the grassland were on the left wing. In addition to clear and convenient command, the strong side and the weak side, even if it is time to escape, the troops belonging to the Qing Dynasty and the troops not belonging to the Qing Dynasty were divided. At that time, there was no need to influence each other.

The cheers of the Ming army formation on the opposite side were rising and falling, and Li Meng rode his horse around the formation. This was the position of the central army. His entire morale was mobilized, and he could start fighting next.

Li Meng and a personal soldier around him gave a few instructions. The personal soldier hurriedly rode his horse to the right wing of the army. After a commotion on the right wing, more than a thousand cavalrymen left the line, first galloped horizontally from right to left, and began to adjust their formation and position as the horses ran.

By the time these more than a thousand cavalry reached the center, they had already become three teams of three hundred cavalry, and some other scattered cavalry followed behind.

The officers of the more than a thousand cavalry led the cavalry spear in their hands, which was a salute to the commander Li Mengdi, and then raised the cavalry spear high and drew several circles in the air.

These cavalry that had just stopped began to move forward, with each team of three hundred cavalry. The formation was pulled to the ground, each line was fifty people, each line of six. Moreover, these three teams were not lined up front and back, but were side by side, with one hundred and fifty cavalry on the same line. Such a formation was very wide.

Being seen by others means being pushed directly over, which is quite terrifying. Everyone's cavalry still maintains a erect look, the horses are trotting, with a very small stride and a very neat queue.

The battlefield was quite quiet for a moment, and the Qing army was stunned. They thought that the Ming army had used this posture to fight at the beginning. In theory, it should be bombarding with artillery or pressing forward the infantry front line. The first step was the cavalry's rushing forward, which was too confident.

Such arrogance must have the capital to be arrogant. The officers and soldiers of the Eight Banners of Manchu and Mongolia all abandoned the arrogance of yesterday and were cautious in dealing with the other party's attacks.

"Lu Hutai, take your people and beat these dogs back and get the first prize!"

When the war started, the first small-scale combat contact had a great impact on the subsequent battle. The so-called good start was half the success, which means that.

The Tartars' army has only admitted that the Ming army's firearms and infantry are indeed powerful, but when it comes to cavalry, these soldiers who have been on horseback since childhood will never admit that their skills are inferior to others.

Lu Hutai is a leader of the two red flags. During the first battle, he could not use the Mongolian cannon fodder that followed the grassland. He still had to be elite. Zhenghong flags and hundreds of cavalrymen from the eight Mongolian flags formed a team of nearly 1,500 people, and shouted and went out to form a formation.

The distance between the two sides was a little further than yesterday when the Dengzhou army and the Eight Banners of Manchu and Mongolian confronted each other, which was almost one mile more. The horses in Jiaozhou camp jogged in a row and had to run some distance before they could reach it. Zuolingluhutai buckled his pointed leather helmet hood and shouted in a muffled voice, and the brigade behind them also moved.

Facing the Ming cavalry on the opposite side, the Manchu and Mongolian cavalry led by Lu Hutai did not line up in formation, but the scattered soldiers slowly moved forward.

Lu Hutai turned around and shouted a few words. After the more than 1,500 cavalry he led left the formation for a distance, gathered a little, then scattered, and suddenly rushed forward, looking like a mess, but the distance between the cavalry and the cavalry was very large, and the formation was extremely loose.

Although the cavalry lined up in an orderly manner and fought head-on, it would certainly be effective, but both sides would suffer great casualties and injuries. Moreover, the morale of the soldiers and horses in front of me was low. Lu Hutai felt that if he wanted to fight head-on with the other party, he might not face the edge of his own. Maybe his troops would also collapse.

It is better to line up a scattered line to cover the wings and behind the opponent's wings and behind the opponent's stance, and the opponent's cavalry will definitely not be distracted, and the direction of the action will not be easily changed for the attacks on the flanks and behind. When the opponent's injury reaches a certain level, he will naturally be able to kill him.

This is the first time the two armies have fought each other today. They have sent a small army to try the opponent's weight. However, now it seems that the Jiaozhou camp cavalry with neat teams is going to suffer, but the scattered troops are getting bigger and bigger, and they are about to wrap the Jiaozhou camp cavalry team in it.

After walking this distance, the cavalry of Jiaozhou Camp should have accelerated slightly. If the horses keep pace so slowly and suddenly accelerate, they will not be able to run at all. There must be an acceleration process. Only by running heats up the body can they completely accelerate to the maximum.

But until now, the cavalrymen arranged in a formation in Jiaozhou camp still kept moving forward slowly, as if they were not a battlefield in front of them, but a training ground.

The slower the action, the more than a thousand light cavalry in Lu Hutai led the territory, the more I felt that the Ming army I encountered these days were really strange. It was hard to understand the truth and reality. The various responses on the battlefield were completely inconsistent with the tactics of playing cards. In the past, I had never seen such a Ming army when fighting inside and outside the pass.

In the main formation of the Manchu and Mongolian army, Abatai had already begun to prepare for the next wave of battle. The cavalry of the brigade arranged its formation and prepared on the left and right wings. The officers and leaders were all taking their place, waiting for the commander's orders and ready to enter the battle at any time.

Moving forward slowly, that is to say, if you go forward and attack the flanks, the opponent can easily turn to the enemy. The assault and harassment of the light cavalry will lose its suddenness, and the opponent can also calmly counterattack.

But since the attack is made, we always have to go forward to fight. Since the Ming army is holding a cavalry spear and is always ready to rush forward, we will use long-range weapons to attack.

Lu Hutai issued a loud order there. Since the cavalry had already dispersed, all he could command was the same direction as him. The cavalry of Manchu and Mongolian put down their weapons, took out bows and arrows, and controlled the horses. Anyway, the cavalry team of the Ming army was moving slowly and would not worry about running away.

If you want to maintain accuracy in riding and shooting, you must make your mount as bumpy as possible. According to the weapons of the Ming army, you can pull the bow and shoot arrows at a distance of thirty or forty steps. After shooting, you should be able to withdraw calmly.

The scattered Tartar cavalry gathered suddenly with the Ming army's slow-moving cavalry team. Some took out bows and arrows, while others held scimitars and spears, ready to attack.

The leader of the Ming cavalry team shouted, and the horse immediately stopped. The iron-armored cavalrymen on the horse pulled out a musket from the bottom of the saddle, sawing the musket with the barrel of the musket shortened. The horses did not need to turn. The people on the horse turned with the musket, pulled the trigger, and fired.

The effective range of the musket with a saw-barrel is between fifty and sixty steps, which is enough on this battlefield. The Manchu and Mongolian cavalry surrounding all sides did not expect that the Ming cavalry with spears did not come to fight, but took out the muskets and rushed over, no matter whether it was fast or slow, they were all about speed and suddenness.

But when we arrived, the Manchu and Mongolian scattered soldiers gathered in several directions. When they saw the other party raise the musket and it was too late to turn around.

No surprise, the muskets fired as expected, and the cavalry rushing in the front were knocked down from the horse. After the first round of fire, the muskets of this era were fire sticks and no longer had any threats. Of course, the Manchu soldiers who had fought with the Ming army for many years knew about this.

The cavalry in the front row screamed and fell from the horse. The soldiers behind did not feel fear. Instead, they kicked the horse hard with the heel of the horse boots, urging the horse forward, and when they got to the front, they could fight and kill. The soldiers who pulled the bow and archery on the other side did not retreat, but instead had to shoot a few more times.

The queues were arranged closely, and the distance between the cavalry and the cavalry was very close. After the fire of the muskets on the outside, the Jiaozhou camp cavalry handed out the muskets with ammunition. Before handing out, they checked the fuse and blew the breath to see if it was burning. The second round of muskets started again.

The Taurus cavalry behind did not hold back the horses and were still preparing to attack forward. Who would have thought that the soldiers of the Ming cavalry team picked up the second musket and made another loud noise.

The cavalry under Lu Hutai just felt extremely aggrieved. Everyone felt that they had been snatched up by someone when they were young, but they couldn't get it back no matter how hard it was. This was really bullying. Why did they take out a second musket? Is there still a shot?

The Taurus cavalry behind did not dare to move forward no matter what. Some bet that the Ming army could not have a third musket, some rushed forward, and some retreated, and they were in chaos. However, the Ming army's queues were deep and deep. If they wanted to fight the muskets, they would be handed over to the outer ring.

The third round, or more accurately, the Jiaozhou camp cavalry on the outer edge fired the third musket. Whether it was the forward or the backward Tartar cavalry, they were beaten up by the horse, and their screams were connected. No one wanted to bet whether the other party could take out the fourth musket.

Fortunately, the formation of the Tartar cavalry has become evacuated, and it is quite easy to turn around and run out in a mess for a moment.

The fourth musket was passed to the hands of the Jiaozhou camp cavalry who were shooting outside. Some unlucky ghosts had no range of shooting, but were still shot by the musket. They fell directly from the horse's back and fell to the sky. The body was dragged by the horse on the ground and continued to run forward.

There were also desperate Tartar cavalry approaching. Within the effective range, they shot out the bows and arrows in their hands, but the bows and arrows hit the Ming cavalry's round arm armor, and they could not penetrate this layer of defense at all. The two sides were closest to thirty-five steps, and Jiaozhou Camp did not suffer any losses. The Manchu and Mongolian cavalry of the Taurus died and injured more than 400 people.
Chapter completed!