Volume 1: The Wind Rises in Tumubao Chapter 18: Battle of Positions
Zhu Qizhen was in the camp, watching from afar as the Oirat people returned empty-handed once again .
"Your Majesty, our army has won another great victory, and the Oirat people have retreated!"
Zhang Fu's face was full of smiles. Ever since the emperor suddenly came to his senses and personally led his troops to attack the Ala camp, the Ming army had been winning battles all the way.
However, there was no joy of victory on Zhu Qizhen's face, but rather a solemn expression.
"Zhang Qingjia, have you noticed that the Wala people have changed their fighting style?"
Zhang Fu was stunned for a moment. To be honest, he only saw the Oirat people retreating and didn't really notice any difference from before.
Now that I think about it, when the Wala charged just now...
"Your Majesty, are you talking about their formation becoming more dispersed?"
"That's right!" Zhu Qizhen nodded. "The Wala cavalry used to form a dense formation, but in today's attack, each formation was extremely dispersed, and the number of troops dispatched was much smaller than before."
Zhang Fu said thoughtfully: "The emperor means..."
"It's a feint attack!" Zhu Qizhen sighed and said, "Its purpose is to consume our army's ammunition. It seems that the enemy has already known our weakness."
As he was speaking, Chen Ying also came closer and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"
"No need to be polite!" Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and asked directly, "How much ammunition does the Shenji Battalion have left?"
Chen Ying thought for a moment and replied, "We still have more than 200 kilograms of gunpowder, but we don't have many cannonballs and lead bullets. At this rate, we can only sustain three rounds of attacks at most."
Zhang Fu realized the seriousness of the problem and said, "Your Majesty, the Oirat people have just withdrawn their troops and must have gone back to rest. Why don't we wait until dark and retreat to Juyong Pass in batches under the cover of night?"
To be honest, Zhu Qizhen also wanted to retreat to Juyongguan, but the problem was, what if the other party noticed and caught up?
In the current situation, if the two armies were to line up their battle array in the wild and fight face to face, he would not be at a disadvantage.
The fear is that when the army is retreating, it will be caught up and stabbed in the buttocks by the enemy. At that time, the formation will be disrupted, just like the Wala people now, with the morale of the army demoralized and the army defeated.
The opponent has made several feints and tests, and there will definitely be big moves next.
Zhu Qizhen was sure that as long as he showed signs of retreat, these Wala people would definitely rush forward.
It would be too passive to continue defending like this. We need to find a way to take the initiative back into our own hands.
"Call all generals to a meeting!"
Ever since Wang Zhen was executed, everyone has become accustomed to gathering around the emperor to discuss battle plans. Although sometimes the emperor's ideas are very novel and difficult to follow, it is always proved afterwards that the decisions he made are correct.
After these battles, everyone was convinced.
Nowadays, no matter what orders Zhu Qizhen gives, these people will execute them without hesitation.
Under the cover of night, Chen Huai led the digging team quietly out of the camp gate. However, this time they didn't go far and arrived at the main camp gate.
As the sun slowly rose from the horizon, the gate of the Wala camp slowly opened, and a team of cavalry began to cross the river and approached the Ming army position.
The Ming army continued to suppress the enemy with artillery, but this time the sound of the artillery was sparse, and coupled with the fact that the Oirat cavalry was already scattered, there were no casualties.
A La stood on the shore and watched, and was immediately overjoyed.
Since yesterday, we have been using feint attack tactics to consume the Ming army's firearms.
As expected, there was a noticeable reduction in each firearms attack by the Ming army, and even arrows were used sparingly.
This time, the cannon went silent after firing one round, indicating that the other party was very afraid of this kind of test.
It was obvious that the Ming army was running low on ammunition!
Yesen has already sent an order that due to the large amount of baggage and supplies carried, they can only reach the Guishui River tonight.
This is my last chance. If I haven't achieved any results yet, I might as well stop waiting for others to deal with me. I'd better find a place to dig a hole and bury myself!
“Attack!”
Following an order, the low horn sounded again.
A'la, wearing bright silver armor, personally led 10,000 cavalrymen to attack the Ming army's positions.
This time, it was no longer a feint.
However, although Ala guessed that the Ming army was short of firearms and ammunition, he was still very cautious. He divided his 10,000 soldiers into several teams and surrounded the Ming army positions in a fan shape.
This is a pure cavalry lineup, with thousands of horses galloping and magnificent momentum, which seems to be able to break through all obstacles.
Boyan stayed in the formation and watched. He knew in his heart that in today's battle, Ala would definitely go all out. In terms of leadership ability and combat skills, apart from Yesen, even he himself would not dare to say that he was better than Ala.
If we can win this battle in one fell swoop, all the previous setbacks will be insignificant.
Even if it fails, at least it will cause effective casualties to the Ming army. There are more than 30,000 troops around him, and they have all entered a state of preparation for war. When the opportunity comes, they will immediately launch a second wave of attack on the Ming army positions. I don’t believe that I can’t capture the little emperor!
After the previous battles, the location of the horse trap had already been exposed. All one had to do was slow down and watch one's feet, and one could pass through it easily.
Next, when there were still two hundred steps away from the Ming army camp, the Oirat cavalry continued to advance forward, shooting arrows. The Ming army was not to be outdone and continued to fight back with bows and muskets.
Amid the sporadic sounds of musketry, the Wala cavalry quickly rushed up the hillside, although their speed began to decrease due to the terrain.
As they got closer to the Ming army camp, the 10,000 Oirat cavalry began to shrink and gather towards the camp gate.
The Ming army camp was built in a very standardized manner. Although it was a temporary camp, it made full use of the mountain terrain. The camp was not the traditional square or circular shape, but was built according to the terrain of the hill.
This limits the best route into the camp to the camp gate.
Seeing that the Ming army camp was so close, Ala's eyes seemed to be spewing flames.
However, as an experienced veteran, he knew very well that the more time came, the more cautious he had to be.
Keep calm!
You must keep calm!
The lesson of Angkto is right before our eyes, we must not be careless!
"Be careful to hide!"
Following the order, these Wala cavalrymen leaned over the horse's back or pressed against the side of the horse's belly to minimize the area affected by the attack.
It has to be said that the Oirat people's riding and archery ability is well-deserved. In this posture, they can even shoot arrows at the Ming army on the camp gate.
At the gate of the camp, Pingxiang Earl Chen Huai was riding on a horse, watching the enemies rushing up like a tide, with a smile on his face!
"put!"
Following an order, hundreds of strong men suddenly appeared from behind the camp gate, pulling thick ropes with all their might.
"One, two, three, pull!"
"One, two, three, pull!"
Along with the uniform shouts, long rectangular pits appeared outside the camp gate.
No matter how careful these Wala soldiers were, they would never have thought that the Ming army was so cunning as to dig so many pits in front of the camp gate.
These long pits are only half a person deep and not wide, just the width of a horse. They can be easily jumped over by just pulling the reins.
Sure enough, with the appearance of the long pit, the Wala cavalry did not choose to stop charging, but instead increased their speed and jumped over it.
However, after they passed the first long pit, they found that there was a second one in front of them.
So speed up again and jump over!
