Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 172: Fateful Sarhu (Part 2)
"Great Khan, we have already found out that the southern barbarians left Fushun Pass on February 18th and are currently advancing along the south bank of the Hun River."
"Good! These cowardly southern barbarians have finally come to die! Order the entire army to leave Jiefan Village and cross the Suzi River."
“Scum!”
Although he spoke toughly, Yingming Khan actually felt very heavy inside at the moment.
The Ming army on the opposite side was clearly advancing slowly in a group, and the only way to stop their advance was to fight head-on.
As for fighting, since their own firearms were far inferior to those of the Ming Dynasty, they could only fight in the field. To fight in the field, they had to find a relatively open place: if the terrain was too narrow, it would be extremely disadvantageous for the Jin Dynasty, which was at a disadvantage in terms of firearms and manpower.
Therefore, the battlefield can only be Sarhu.
But in a place like Sarhu, with only 65,000 troops against an enemy army of 100,000, there is really no guarantee of victory.
No matter what! In any case, if Dajin wants to survive, it must face this battle. As long as this battle is overcome, the future will be better!
After thinking about this, Yingming Khan no longer hesitated. After getting dressed, he walked out of the house confidently. After taking a deep breath of the cold air of this season, he mounted his horse and set off with his army.
And on Zhu Youdong's side.
On the third day of February, the army set out from Shenyang. This time, Zhu Youdong no longer required a high-speed march: during the period of stationing in Shenyang, Fangshan Laboratory sent a total of fifty twelve-pound cannons: each cannon weighed up to two tons. The entire team could not move fast just because of the drag of the artillery team. Not to mention that Zhu Youdong did not want to move fast: why walk so fast? Anyway, the rivers in Liaodong will not thaw until April, so wouldn't it be better to finish the battle before then? It should be noted that the two armies sat quietly and consumed each other. If Zhu Youdong spent one more day, the integration of the Ming army would be stronger, and the supplies of the Jiannu would be less.
In fact, if Wei Zhongxian had not sent a letter saying that the emperor had become suspicious in the rear, he really wanted to send troops in March.
On February 13, the army entered Fushun. On the 18th, they passed through Fushun Pass. After that, the army continued to advance along the Hun River. On the 21st, the army arrived at Sarhu.
"Your Highness, Lord Yang, and all the commanders, I have already found out that the main force of the Jiannu is thirty miles away from our army."
"Okay, give the order. All troops should stop advancing and deploy according to the strategy we have planned beforehand!"
"Yes, sir!"
As for whether Zhu Youdong would leave Fushun Pass, Yang Hao, who knew Zhu Youdong's determination, did not say much. But the generals were terrified when they heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was going to leave the border wall. However, in the face of the advice of many generals, Zhu Youdong only said one sentence: I will watch you generals defeat the enemy from behind. As long as you win, I will naturally be as stable as a mountain. Or do you have no confidence in this battle?
Then, seeing that Yang Hao and Xiong Tingbi, both civil officials, remained silent, the generals naturally stopped talking. However, when the news reached the lower levels, the entire army of 95,000 combat soldiers and more than 30,000 auxiliary soldiers shouted for victory, and the morale of the entire Ming army rose again.
In short, after the Ming army arrived at Sarhu, according to the discussions between Zhu Youdong, Yuan Keli, Xiong Tingbi and other generals, their defense was deployed as follows.
The troops of Kaiyuan Lieutenant General Ma Lin were deployed on the front line of the Hunhe River, with 10,000 soldiers. Zhu Youdong took advantage of this strange general who was a military commander but stubbornly believed that he should be a scholar and cowardly: Your troops are not only the front line of the battlefield, but also the front of the battlefield. In front of everyone, you dare to flee? Since you dare not, then you should defend yourself well.
Generals who fear death are good at defense. In fact, the proportion of chariot soldiers in Ma Lin's army is very high. Pan Zongyan and Gong Niansui under his command are both generals known for their defense.
On the left side of Malin, that is, on the north bank of Hunhe River, is the remnant of Jilin Hadaling, with undulating mountains. Zhu Youdong arranged for Li Rubai, deputy general of Liaoyang, Liu Jing, general of Sichuan, and Ma Qiancheng, a thousand households of Shizhu, to station a total of 16,000 soldiers here.
The Li family gave everything they had for this battle: out of the 10,000 Liaoyang soldiers, 7,000 were Li family servants. Li Chengliang's sixth son Li Ruzi, seventh son Li Ruwu, second grandson Li Xingzhong, third grandson Li Huaizhong, fourth grandson Li Xiaozhong, etc. all went into battle.
To the right of Ma Lin, on the south bank of Hunhe River. The terrain here is relatively flat, which is conducive to cavalry attacks. Zhu Youdong placed the remaining 10,000 soldiers from Liaozhen, as well as the 30,000 troops from Datong, Xuanfu and Jizhen, a total of 40,000 soldiers, all here. The commanders of this army were Du Song, Chai Guozhu and others.
The above-mentioned front-line troops totaled 66,000 people.
Behind the front line, the three towns of Yansui, Ningxia, and Taiyuan each had 5,000 men corresponding to the first three troops, as wartime support and replenishment. The 3,000 Beijing camp was also placed on this front line, together with the 5,000 men of Ningxia Town, ready to support Ma Lin on the front line at any time.
At the end, of course, there were the 11,200 men from the Henghai Guard and the Kuandian Guard who were guarding His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty.
This time, Zhu Youdong did not set up his formation on the surface of the Hunhe River. Instead, he found a place with a relatively high altitude on the hill north of the Hunhe River and swung his cranked Nine Dragon Umbrella high up.
Zhu Youdong was not very satisfied with this layout, but considering the overall situation, this layout was the most acceptable option for everyone.
The current method of calculating military merit in the Ming Dynasty was extremely simple and crude: count the number of heads. If you had heads, you could get a reward or promotion. If you didn't have heads, no matter how many enemies you killed on the battlefield, you wouldn't get any merit. This system caused the soldiers to only see the enemy's heads when they were fighting: no matter if they were cut off by themselves or by their comrades.
And when an army is engaged in a fierce battle, the soldiers tie human heads around their waists while fighting?
In short, such a system meant that a considerable portion of the Ming soldiers' energy was not focused on fighting on the battlefield.
Therefore, before setting off this time, Zhu Youdong agreed with all the generals: the merits after this battle will be decided by representatives sent by each military town and garrison after a meeting. The evaluation criteria are, of course, a comprehensive reference to multiple factors such as the duration of the battle, the damage to the enemy's strategic intentions, and the degree of execution of the commander's orders. On this basis, the troops who want to get more merits will also be asked by the chief officers of other troops. In short, at least the merits of this battle will no longer be calculated simply by the number of heads of soldiers or troops.
The benefits of doing so are obvious, and the generals attending the meeting also think that this can ensure that the soldiers fight with all their strength, so they are naturally willing to do so. But the consequence is that Zhu Youdong had to put Henghai Guard and Kuandian Guard at the end - everyone still admires His Royal Highness the Grandson, and is willing to believe in the fairness of the royal family in post-war evaluation. But these two guards are your personal troops, in order to avoid suspicion, Your Highness, right?
…
At about 8:00 on February 21, 1612, after receiving the report from the scout team, Zhu Youdong led the entire army from the camp that 30,000 auxiliary soldiers had worked hard to build last night. They advanced about five miles in the direction of the Jurchen troops. After receiving the news that the Jurchen troops were also approaching rapidly, at the suggestion of Yuan Keli, he ordered the entire army to stop advancing and then formed such a formation.
At about 9:20, Zhu Youdong, who was at the rear of the army, stood on the top of the hill and saw a forest of lightning rods through the telescope. He knew that Nurhaci was coming!
