I

"Are they...Han over there?"

"No matter who he is, if he wants to fill the trench, he will be shot. Shoot him!"

Not only Han slaves, but also Horqin tribesmen were all forced to carry earth to fill trenches. Around the Datong military camp, there were dense trench-filling troops everywhere, and all the artillery pulled out to bombard them was obviously not enough.

In one morning, the cannon fodder responsible for filling the trenches suffered nearly 2,000 casualties.

Many casualties were inflicted, even on the edge of the trenches. They had poured soil into the trench, and then were fired upon by firecrackers. Large pieces fell down, and their morale collapsed before they turned around and fled.

Darkhan found Chahu Dorji again and said, "Great Khan, if we continue to fill in the trenches like this, we will definitely not be able to capture the enemy camp in two days. According to reports from the soldiers who filled the trenches and fled back, the Han army poured a large number of iron nails behind the trenches ( (iron caltrops). After the iron nails, many horses and chariots were launched. Even if these are broken, there will still be a wooden fortress wall of the Han army. It will take at least three days for the Han reinforcements to arrive."

Chahu Dorji was hesitant. He already felt that the camp in front of him was very difficult.

The main thing is a matter of vision. These Khalkha Mongols used to live along the Halaha River (the boundary river between Inner Mongolia and Mongolia). About a hundred years ago, they moved to Mobei one after another. After that, although they went south to plunder several times, the targets of the plunder were all the Mongolian tribes in Monan. They had not fought with the Han people in nearly a hundred years.

In Chahun Dorji's established thinking, fighting is nothing more than a few moves. Even when fighting against the Manchu and Qing dynasties, the Manchu and Qing dynasties took the initiative every time and could not bring too many chariots and chariots into positional battles.

This was the first time in the past hundred years that the Khalkha Mongolian cavalry took the initiative to go south to confront the Han people.

moat? never seen it.

artillery? Firegun? I've seen it before, but never one so dense.

Tribulus? What is that?

Chahun Dorji had never heard of the formation of chariots to block the cavalry.

If the attack continues like this, even if the Han army's camp can be breached, Han reinforcements will come and surround him.

Each of the four biscuits thrown out by Zhang Tieniu and Li Dingguo were bait. There are only two purposes. One is to block the enemy's escape route to the west, and the other is to hold the enemy while waiting for reinforcements.

After thinking carefully, Chahu Dorji said: "We will continue to fill the trenches tomorrow and leave some cavalry to feint attack. The remaining elite main force, as well as the troops ambushed in the mountains, will all go south to intercept the Han reinforcements. We all They are cavalry, they cannot be wasted in the Han camp, they should fight the Han people on the open grassland!"

…

The southern reinforcements moved slowly because they were scattered everywhere and needed time to assemble.

Li Zheng couldn't wait for all the troops to be assembled, so he took only three divisions of infantry and several divisions of dragoons and drove north at a moderate speed.

This guy is still so cautious in fighting, the infantry and logistics troops march cautiously in the center. More than 10,000 dragoons were scattered in all directions, looking for traces of the enemy everywhere.

With Li Zheng as the commander of the reinforcements, he may not be able to arrive in time for rescue, but he will definitely not fall into an ambush.

About 300 miles northwest of Tongliao in later generations, the pathfinding cavalry of the two armies collided. There were not many of them, each numbering several hundred. The first reaction was to send someone back to report the news, while the rest began to approach cautiously.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The Datong Dragoons fired their guns first, then turned around and distanced themselves.

More than ten people from the Khalkha cavalry were shot and felled. They were shocked and angry and immediately pursued them. After chasing for three or four miles, the nearby dragoons heard the sound of gunfire and came over to support them. Upon seeing this, the Khalkha cavalry quickly ran away.

This is an appetizer and can be ignored.

Both sides found out each other's approximate location, gathered their forces and gradually approached, and finally met at the territory of the Zalut Banner.

The terrain here is not flat and the grassland is undulating. There are many mounds covered with weeds, and occasionally small hills, but overall it is conducive to cavalry charges.

The reinforcements led by Li Zheng were besieged on a mound.

The headquarters is located on the mound, and the artillery is located on the slope slightly outside. From a high position, it can fire towards the battlefield. Logistics civilians and civilian personnel were all protected in the middle. The outer perimeter is the infantry. Outside the infantry there is a defensive formation of chariots. Outside the chariots there are horses and caltrops.

Looking at the turtle formation in front of him, Chahun Dorji had a headache.

Eighty years ago, Qi Jiguang was ordered to serve as the commander-in-chief of Jizhen. He massively increased the number of firearms troops on the original turtle formation of the Ming army, and beat the Mongols there completely lose their temper. Now, the Datong Army has not only learned it, but also continues to increase the proportion of firearms troops.

"Khan, are you still fighting?" Morgan asked.

Chahun Dorji said: "We have to try and call Lama Shixi!"

Lama Shixi rushed up on his horse, got off his horse and knelt down to worship.

Chahu Dorji pointed to the turtle formation in front and asked, "Do Han soldiers fight like this?"

"Yes." Lama Shixi replied.

Chahu Dorji asked: "How to break it?"

Lama Shixi said: "Cavalry cannot be defeated, so we need to make a carriage. The Jurchens of Jianzhou used a carriage to cover the soldiers as they moved forward. When they got close, they fired arrows to disrupt the formation of the Han soldiers. Then they went to pick up the iron. Tribulus, those iron caltrops are strung together with ropes, and you can pick up a large piece with one pick. After clearing the iron caltrops, and then pushing the horses and chariots away, you can rush in and fight with the Han soldiers."

"Is it so troublesome?" Chahu Dorji asked.

Lama Shixi added: "There is another way to gather a large number of artillery and use artillery shells to scatter the Han soldiers' formation."

Chahun Dorji did not have carriages or a large number of artillery.

Lama Shixi continued: "This kind of chariot of the Han army can also transport baggage when marching. Food and soldiers and armor can be transported away after being loaded on the car. When fighting, the baggage is unloaded and the cart is pushed to A formation of chariots was formed on the outside. With so many chariots now, the Han army probably has enough food and grass, and it is impossible to run out of food during the siege for ten days and a half."

When you surround a point to call for reinforcements, you must be able to do so.

The ancestors of Chahu Dorji suffered great losses from Zhu Di when faced with this kind of routine.

At that time, Zhu Di did not have so many tanks, and Zhu Di did not have so many artillery. However, the infantry formed a chariot formation and bombarded the charging Mongolian cavalry, supplemented by shooting with bows and arrows and muskets. After disrupting the Mongolian cavalry formation, the Ming cavalry took the opportunity to rush out again. The Ming army initially figured out how to deal with Mongolia's turtle formation bit by bit.

Unfortunately, the Khalkha Mongols did not write history books and had no relevant detailed records. Two or three hundred years have passed, and Chahun Dorji can only feel the helplessness of his ancestors through personal experience.

"Try it first," Chahu Dorji ordered. Mergen went around to the east, Darhan went around to the west, Gurushixi went around to the south, and I personally led the army to the north. Attack in turn from all sides and shoot many arrows to see if they can disrupt the formation of the Han soldiers. Don't be afraid of death. If you die too many, just feign defeat and run away to lure the Han soldiers out of the car formation! "

Li Zheng was standing on the hill, watching the Mongolian cavalry mobilizing around him. He said to the messenger: "Tell all the troops not to pursue. Without my order, the enemy cannot be pursued even if they break up. Our mission is not to annihilate the enemy, but to It’s to rescue friendly troops and hold back the enemy. Whoever dares to pursue without authorization will have his head chopped off!”

Morgan and Darhan obviously wanted to preserve their strength.

Instead, go around to Gulu Shixi in the south, this guy is quite tough. He had the longest detour, but was the first to attack. More than 3,000 cavalry formed a loose formation to test the charge.

"Boom boom boom!"

Conventional field artillery starts firing shells from a distance of five to six hundred meters. The formation was quite large, but the damage caused was limited.

About three hundred meters away, the Tiger Crouching Cannon also fired shotguns.

Continuing forward, there will be three rounds of fire cannon fire.

These tentative charging Mongolian soldiers were unable to hold on even before they reached the range of their bows and arrows. They all took the initiative to slow down and passed diagonally in front of the Datong army formation, leaving more than 300 corpses on the grass.

Gurushi's eyes widened with joy, and he was stunned for a while before saying: "Stop rushing, go back and report to Dahan, saying that this kind of car formation cannot be rushed!"

There is no need for him to report the battle situation, Chahun Dorji has already tested it.

Chahu Dorji said: "It seems that we can't attack hard, so we can only lure the enemy out. Let all the troops attack fiercely, kill a few more people, and then the whole army will be defeated. If we throw away tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, I will not believe in the Han." The soldiers can hold back and not chase. As long as the Han soldiers dare to chase, I will annihilate them all!"

The real battle finally begins.

Small tribes collected along the way, even small tribes of the Khalkha Mongols, were ordered to launch suicide charges.

Defeated again and again, charged again and again.

Gurushi was so happy that he even led his own troops to attack. Of course, he still had some sense. He took advantage of the gaps between artillery fires and rushed to the caltrop area. Beyond that was the chariot formation, and behind the chariot formation there were pikemen.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

"Boom boom boom!"

Not only were the muskets fired, but the grenadiers were also on the battlefield, throwing bombs at the oncoming cavalry.

In just an instant, Gulu Shixi's troops were overwhelmed. This guy was so lucky that he wasn't injured, but he was knocked awake and quickly slowed down to escape from the battlefield.

"Hissing!"

The war horse under Gulu Shixi's crotch suddenly let out a scream, but the horse's shoe was pierced by an iron caltrop.

The younger brother of the Great Khan of Khalkha was thrown away by his war horse and landed hard on two caltrops. One thorn thorn pierced his lower back; another thorn thorn pierced the back of his head.

As soon as the general died, the troops immediately fled.

It's not a feigned defeat, it's a real collapse.

The Datong Army defending in the south obeyed Li Zheng's order and stood still without pursuing at all.

The Mongolian cavalry on other sides also paid a heavy price and fled in panic under the leadership of their general. In order to make the performance realistic, tens of thousands of cattle and sheep were thrown near the battlefield. This tactic of luring the enemy was tried and tested against the Mongolian tribes. No leader of the tribe could resist the temptation of tens of thousands of cattle and sheep.

To be honest, if the Datong military commander is replaced by Zhang Tieniu or Huang Yao, there is a great possibility of risking the pursuit.

But they met Li Zheng, a guy who would rather miss the opportunity than lead the army into danger.

Chahu Dorji led his army to "escape" for several miles. He looked back and said in surprise and anger: "Aren't the Han soldiers chasing you?"

After standing on the horse and observing for a long time, Chahun Dorji gathered his troops and went back to pick up the cattle and sheep he had left behind.

He sent a sentinel to observe closely. The sentinel came back and reported: "Great Khan, the Han army not only did not pursue them, but also dug trenches outside the chariot formation."

After hearing this, Chahun Dorji was so depressed that he almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.

It's disgusting enough that you put up that turtle formation, but you still have to dig a fucking trench around the perimeter? Do you want to spend the winter in this shitty place?