Chapter 709: Fierce Battle of Shamar
Yang Xingyun told Wang Gui not to be afraid, and ordered the post stations along the route to operate according to the wartime mechanism, and the garrisons in various places would strengthen their guard. Of course, valuable weapons like those carried by horses must be protected at a higher level...
In the Principality of Kip on the Kipchak Plain, Hubli had just captured a city and moved into the city when Prime Minister Dong went to report to him: Your Majesty, it's bad. The Shenwei Army has been dispatched, and Zhang Zhi's subordinates have gone straight to the Yile River and occupied a large tract of land east of the river.
This guy has already regarded the territory of the Golden Horde as the territory of their Western Yuan Empire, and he always says that the New Song Dynasty is plundering their land.
Hubili said disapprovingly: The Shenwei Army has been active on the east bank of the river for a long time, it is not surprising.
Prime Minister Dong reported to him that this time the situation was completely different from the past. The Shenwei Army approached the bank of the river and occupied it and refused to leave. They left troops to garrison important towns and ferry crossings, and sent local officials to register household registration.
Hubili was surprised. This rhythm meant that the Shenwei Army was going to occupy and manage the city. He immediately sat up straight and listened carefully to the prime minister's detailed report.
Prime Minister Dong told him: Zhang Zhi's Shenwei Army has been mobilized in large numbers and deployed defenses along the upper and lower reaches of the Yile River. They are going upstream to the northwest and have entered Samara, heading south to Koksian. If they meet up with Gao Jin's troops, they will cut off our access to and from the Caspian Sea and block us on the Kipchak steppe.
Hubli had indeed not expected this, the Divine Power Army came too quickly.
However, even if the Shenwei Army sealed the Caspian Sea, he could still take the land route and go back and forth from Teheran via the western Caspian Sea. However, the Shenwei Army was really fierce this time, and it quickly took over the fertile land on the other side of the Yidile River. The troops were heading straight for Hamara, and a large number of traitors of the Golden Horde fled here.
If the Shenwei Army crossed the river and moved westward to occupy the hilly area in the west, then the first natural barrier that blocked the New Song Kingdom would be broken by the Shenwei Army, and the Great Plains of the Kipchak would become the main battlefield for the competition between him and the New Song Kingdom.
This won't work.
Prime Minister Dong suggested to him that while the Shenwei Army was still unstable, he should take action against him, annihilate the Shenwei Army that entered Hamara, and prevent the New Song Kingdom from further encroaching on their territory.
This guy told Emperor Hu that the weather was getting colder and the ground was about to freeze. The Shenwei Army was best at using local rats to dig holes and trenches to fight blocking battles. When they encountered the horrible weather here, the ground was frozen into stone and they couldn't dig at all. This made it convenient for our grassland men to gallop and charge on horseback.
Hubli nodded repeatedly, smiled and said it was a good idea, then issued an oral order, ordering Wulianghe to attack, to fight a battle in Samara with overwhelming superiority in force, and to destroy the vanguard of the Shenwei Army head-on.
He wants to decide the outcome of the battle.
Over the past year, Hubli reorganized the Arabs in Teheran and recovered the Golden Horde. He had a strong army and gathered many brave and capable generals, giving him the confidence to fight against the Divine Mighty Army.
Wulianghe immediately took the order and launched an attack. He gathered an army of 200,000 and rushed towards Shamala with great momentum.
Hamala is located on a huge river bend plain on the right bank of the northwest end of the Yidile River. The latitude here is too high, and the Yidile River has long been frozen. The Xiyuan army can cross the river as if walking on flat ground, and it is a matter of whipping the horses to attack the positions of the Shenwei Army.
Zhang Zhi, the commander of the Shenwei Army, personally led his army to station here. He had more than just Mara in mind. The military staff did a lot of research and believed that crossing the river to seize the hills east of the river was the best option.
In that case, not only would Hexi have a garrisoned barrier, but the Shenwei Army would also gain a forward base to further compress the Xiyuan Empire westward.
Seeing that Zhang Zhi and other generals were standing by the river and looking at the other side, Wu Jie asked carefully: The river is frozen, and the enemy can cross the river just by kicking their horses' bellies. The Marshal wants our brothers to dig trenches to defend against the enemy.
Zhang Zhi smiled and said: General Wu will definitely not do this.
He asked Baturu where the enemy soldiers were now.
Baturu said that Wulianghe’s army was large in number and moved slowly, and was at least three hundred miles away from us.
Zhang Zhi ordered: Start digging trenches immediately.
Soon, soldiers came running to report that the ground was frozen and they made clanging sounds like hitting rocks before they had dug more than two feet below. The brothers tried their best but made little progress.
Zhang Zhi said: It's just for show, but we must dig hard and put out guards to keep a close watch.
Turning around, he lowered his voice and asked the logistics staff: How are the sheepskin water bags prepared?
The deputy general told him to collect the food, and told him not to damage the sheepskin or stomach when eating the sheep these days, and to prepare all the things that could hold water.
Several main generals laughed immediately.
Wu Jie said that we cannot just stand there and defend passively, allowing the Xiyuan army to charge recklessly, we must also launch a cavalry attack on them.
Zhang Zhi looked at Baturu and said with a smile: It all depends on Bago, all the elite cavalry of the Shenwei Army are under his command.
Baturu said happily: Watch him, I will charge for a while this time and then stop.
Zhang Zhi said that we are all old, and we just need to watch the brothers below us work. The third young master said well, leave some opportunities for the brothers below to earn military merits.
While the three were still discussing the details, a messenger came over to report: General Wang of Shamar Khan has arrived with his troops.
Everyone immediately rode their horses to meet them, and saw a dozen strong horses rushing towards them in a storm. The horses neighed one after another, and Wang Hanchen and his men pulled the reins of their horses.
Wu Jie immediately led all the generals to salute General Wang Hanchen.
Han Chen returned the greeting with a laugh, telling them not to do such empty things, as they were all brothers, and he came here to accept the orders of Commander Zhang .
Zhang Zhi was still a general, how could this guy bear it? After some polite words from the brothers, the Han official ordered: the reinforcements coming from the Western Regions will be under the command of Zhang Zhi, and I will be in charge of logistics and supervision of the battle.
Wu Jie and Zhang Zhi both understood Wang Hanchen's meaning. The Western Regions army did not know the military situation of Hama, so it would be best for them to obey orders.
When Zhang Zhi heard that the First Division of the New Third Army had arrived, he couldn't help but feel worried when he thought that they were all infantry. This was a vast grassland, and if they were intercepted by the Xiyuan cavalry, the losses would be considerable.
Wang Hanchen told him not to worry.
Ask him how many mortars the 1st Division has?
Zhang Zhi shook his head in confusion. He knew that the newly formed Shenwei Army had strong firepower, but he was not sure about the specifics.
Han Chen said proudly: Third Young Master is generous. One regiment has twenty guns. One division has four brigades, one brigade has four regiments, and there is also a special forces regiment. You can calculate how many guns there are. There are also red-coated cannons and horse-mounted special operations battalions.
What the hell is going on? Can we just use artillery fire to crush the enemy?
The generals were delighted and envied the new army, and each of them wanted to lead it.
Wang Hanchen waved his hands and said: Forget it, he is all thanks to Commander Gao, who gave him the power to lead a division. The new armies in various places are all our treasures led by the commander-in-chief.
In order not to affect Zhang Zhi's command, this guy went south to meet up with the team, and actually left Shamala with a group of his men.
Seeing snow falling from the sky, Zhang Zhi ordered flooding of the land, and the water turned into ice to build a retaining wall.
Han Chen ran 80 miles to catch up with the first division, and the scout reported that a cavalry unit of Xiyuan had reached the west bank of the river. Wang Han Chen sneered and said, "As expected, they are going to attack from the side again. This time, we will make this enemy hit the wall and knock them all down."
The First Division immediately panicked and seized favorable terrain to build defenses.
The Xiyuan elite cavalry responsible for the flanking attack saw that the Shenwei Army had panicked and shrank into three assembly points and built fortifications in a disorderly manner. They immediately rode across the river and attacked the First Brigade's position on the river bank.
Unexpectedly, they were too few in number and were blocked by the three consecutive attacks of the Divine Might Army. The commander was furious when he saw it through the telescope. Damn, they couldn't even break through the enemy's position, so what was the point of flanking? The commander observed carefully and realized that they didn't have enough manpower and horses to fight against the Divine Might Army. They had to surround and attack them.
This guy quickly mobilized his troops to attack.
Wang Hanchen also saw through the telescope that the sparse Xiyuan cavalry were not strong enough to be shot down by the Shenwei Army's Shenbi crossbows. He felt that the Xiyuan army looked down on his New 1st Division. Why did they send such a small number of troops?
Tickle him?
It's not over yet, he doesn't need a massage.
The enemy quickly set out. On the shiny white ice of the Yidile River, the Xiyuan army threw a lot of weeds to pave the road, and a large number of cavalry rushed across the river to join the battlefield.
This was exactly the effect Han Chen wanted. When he saw a large number of cavalry charging towards the positions of the New 1st Brigade, he actually laughed.
As a result, 20,000 enemy cavalry were unable to break through the position of the New 1st Brigade.
With the intensive artillery support of brother units, the First Brigade launched a counterattack and drove the Xiyuan back to the river. At this time, the ice surface of the river underwent amazing changes.
In the morning, when the Xiyuan army was crossing the river, the riverbed was cold and the ice was thick. They walked across the ice that was as hard as steel.
But the sun was shining brightly today, and they spread a lot of hay on the ice to reduce the reflection of sunlight. In the afternoon, the temperature rose, the ice and snow melted, and the ice became thinner. Many horses running in the front crossed the river with a crackling sound on the ice, and the cavalrymen behind were in trouble when they stepped on the broken ice. One by one, they fell into the river with their horses and swam in the freezing river water under the ice cover.
Damn it, this Xiyuan army is digging its own grave.
What? Zhang Zhi's army also fought with Xiyuan's army. Last night, the enemy crossed the river to fight. One hundred thousand troops stepped on the solid ice and crossed the river in one breath, and immediately launched an attack on the Shenwei Army. But they were blinded by the sunlight reflected from the opposite side.
After a battle, they discovered that the Shenwei Army had poured water last night and turned it into ice. They built a thick and long wall as a shelter. In the sunlight, it looked like a giant silver dragon lying on the river bank.
Wuliang He admired the experts in the Shenwei Army who easily built a solid defense line in one night.
However, the opportunity for battle was fleeting and he had no time to take care of other things. He immediately launched a large-scale attack as planned. The Xiyuan army launched a large-scale charge towards the Shenwei army from the north and west.
However, the Shenwei Army did not show any weakness. A large number of catapults and mortars opened fire, directly covering the charging Xiyuan cavalry with firepower, isolating the enemy a hundred meters away in front of the ice wall of the position.
