"Battle is a collision between the material and spiritual forces of the opposing parties. It is carried out in the form of bloodshed and destruction. It is the core military activity, and all other military activities are carried out for the purpose of fighting."
——"On War", Clausewitz.
The main force battle is the most efficient way to fight. Tens of thousands of people have to decide the winner. If it is done piecemeal, it may not be decided for several months. But as long as a major battle is fought, within a day or even half a day, the life and death of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people, as well as the related political power, land, and history, will all be decided by this.
Of course, in order to win or lose this battle, both sides will have put in a lot of effort beforehand, and it may be months or even years of careful preparation, but in any case, it will ultimately be decided by a big battle.
——At this moment, Pang Yu was immersed in the atmosphere of tension and expectation before the war, and Xie Xi seemed to have the same feeling. The two stood there in silence, the noise of people under the bridge and the sound of wind on the bridge mixed together. Together, it brings a wonderful sense of epicness.
What is very interesting is that those people from the Ming Dynasty who followed them, including Zhang Fengyi, Cao Huachun and the young prince Zhang Shize, always liked to join them before. Now they clearly saw Pang Yu and He Xi standing there. Here, he didn't come over, but hid aside and discussed by himself. I don’t know if it’s because the war is about to happen, but I also feel the solemn atmosphere and don’t dare to disturb him, or if I have other ideas and don’t want Shorthair to know.
But it doesn’t matter anyway, it’s just a good time for them to come over, and they don’t bother to pay attention here, so it just happens to be quiet for a while.
The two stood for a moment, but Xie Xi couldn't help but said:
"Do you think Huang Taiji will fight us to the death here? He is not Seng Gelinqin a few years later, and there is no need to defend Beijing city to the death. If we find that our hedgehog formation is too hard to chew, we will turn around and leave. There is nothing we can do about him.”
"That's true, but that doesn't solve the problem, it just postpones the war - Huang Taiji's goal is to eliminate us. If he can't do this, we can still chase him to his camp."
"The cavalry is fast, and that is under the premise of being lightly armed. Unless the Jinmeng coalition is willing to give up most of the results they have obtained during the past few months, they will have to fight with our army sooner or later. And even if Huang Taiji can make a retreat, His subordinates and allies may not be willing to make such a decision. Houjin is a tribal alliance regime, and although Huang Taiji has monopoly power, he is not able to follow his words."
Looking at the artillery position gradually taking shape under the bridge, Pang Yu smiled softly:
"I estimate that as long as Lao Ma doesn't show off deliberately and fires a volley of barrages as soon as they engage in battle, so that the whole army loses their courage, Huang Taiji can make the decision to withdraw troops. Otherwise, he will be hit in the head by a cannonball. Before we went up, those bandits would not take the initiative to admit defeat."
"I hope so……"
Xie Xi didn’t seem to have high hopes, but he didn’t argue with Pang Yu. He just lightly patted the stone lion on the bridge railing and laughed in a low voice:
"After this battle is over, I don't know how many of these lions will be leftThe stone lions of Yongtong Bridge may become as famous as Marco Polo Bridge."
"When the time comes, the best thing to do is to find someone to repair it. Use the best white marble and find the best craftsman."
The two deliberately chatted some gossip, but soon realized that this made them more nervous, so they stopped talking.
While the Qiong Navy was constructing a massive construction position, Houjin and Mongolian reconnaissance cavalry appeared around them from a distance, like a group of hyenas on the grassland, staring at their prey from a distance.
In the past, as long as they dared to approach, there would be a dedicated team of hunters and rangers to drive them away. But this time, no one was chasing them away. As long as the other party is not close to the range of the musket, they don't bother to pay attention. They allow the other party to watch from a distance and peek into the reality, but they are ignored here.
——Obviously, Qiong Haijun is inviting a fight. It depends on whether the Jin army dares to accept the challenge. As for how the other party sends the news back, Shorthair certainly doesn't need to worry about this. If their opponents couldn't even do this, they wouldn't be able to suppress the Ming army in the hinterland of Gyeonggi and not even dare to leave the city.
Sure enough, not long after, the faint sound of horn horns was heard coming from a distance, and it came one after another, like a pack of wolves, sounding from all directions. If it was the Ming army, hearing this kind of momentum echoed from all directions, It is inevitable that there will be a feeling of being surrounded, and the morale of the army will naturally be greatly depressed.
But here at Qiong Haijun, there was no response. The soldiers who were building fortifications were still hard at work, while the soldiers who had completed their headquarters positions were sitting on the ground under the leadership of their officers, resting silently. Or wipe the firearm and clean itNo one even glanced at the place where the sound came from, and the entire army stood as still as a rock-
Because they all know what will happen.
…………
Time passed slowly, and as the sun gradually climbed into the middle, Qiong Haijun’s combat fortifications had been completed. All the soldiers sat quietly and waited. In addition, the cooking team set up pots to make meals in advance, heated the pre-prepared meals and delivered them to the battlefield so that everyone could eat hot.
Near noon, when the sun was about to reach its highest angle, the calm on the position was broken - from the distant horizon, red flares suddenly rose one after another. They were the members of the Northern Latitude Reconnaissance Battalion who encountered the enemy. emergency signal.
Ranger troops were immediately dispatched to respond. After a burst of intermittent gunfire, the Rangers escorted several soldiers from the reconnaissance battalion in tattered clothes and covered in dust back to their positions.
"The enemy's main force! The cavalry brigade! Forty to fifty thousand people! There are still ten miles away!"
Although the scouts were exhausted, they still ran to Tang Jian and others and yelled the message loudly. Then they were helped off their horses and went to drink water and rest.
After hearing this, Wang Haiyang, who had not spoken much, dropped the buns he had taken a few bites from, looked at Pang Yu and said with a smile:
"You're really telling me. I thought I would wait in vain today, so I planned to withdraw to Tongzhou in the afternoon and come back tomorrow."
After saying this, without waiting for the other party's response, he hurried towards the Second Regiment's position. Pang Yu just smiled and said to the remaining people in the field:
“The temple calculation phase is over, my mission is completed, and now it’s up to you.”
"Leave it to us."
Tang Jian also stood up, but he was not as impatient as Wang Haiyang. Instead, he calmly dipped the steamed bun in his hand into the soup in the lunch box and finished eating. He also wiped his hands before calmly walking towards the formation.
Pang Yu naturally went to the third regiment location with Jie Xi. In fact, there was no need for them to make a special trip back to give orders. The troops below had already reacted long ago after seeing those signals. At this time, they were already in their respective positions and ready to fight.
After that, scattered scouts returned one after another - the war was about to begin, and the last order given to them by Northern Latitude was to come back and join the main force in order to strengthen the relatively weak cavalry force of the Qiong Navy and prepare for use in subsequent battles. .
After a while, a red flare once again rose in the sky in the northeast corner of the position, so the rangers were sent out again to respond. But this time it was slightly different from the previous times - as long as the rangers rushed over in the previous times, the Jinmeng cavalry patrolling the surrounding area fled away like a pack of wild dogs facing a lion. But this time, after the Rangers passed by, they didn't come back quickly. Instead, they had sex with each other there.
Looking from afar, I could see smoke billowing on the horizon and constant gunshots. It seemed that an enemy army was so daring, or that they were completely disregarding life and death and actually started fighting with the Rangers head-on?
This kind of scene is rare - the Jinmeng cavalry were fierce enemies in front of the Ming army, but to Qiong Haijun, they were just armed herdsmen. Their light bows and soft arrows couldn't even reach fifty meters. In the contact battles during this period, few dared to fight hard against Qiong Haijun.
Seeing that it couldn’t be done with just a few dozen rangers, Tang Jian waved and called Ye Mengyan over.
"Xiaoye, please bring the guards over to pick me up."
Before Ye Mengyan could say anything, Wei Aiwen popped up next to him:
"It's better for me to go, our second group will be closer."
Seeing that someone was about to cut off his beard, Ye Mengyan suddenly became anxious:
“Our equipment is good!”
——As the defenders of the Baiyantan main base and the "Forest Army" stationed in the short-haired nest, the guard battalion is the second unit besides the reconnaissance battalion to be equipped with the most advanced semi-automatic rifles. Although not all members have been able to change their equipment, But at least one company is equipped with new equipment. It was this company that Ye Mengyan was preparing to pull out now. They even had a few submachine guns, and they dared to fight head-on even if they faced tens of thousands of enemy troops.
So in the end, Xiaoye led the people out. Seeing hundreds of people shouting and greeting them, the Mongolian cavalry over there actually took the initiative to greet them. It was really crazy.
But in the face of flying bullets, human courage is meaningless - after a crackling volley, the remaining Mongolian cavalry finally gave in and retreated in despair. Those who were unwilling to leave all lay on the ground.
So this little outpost battle ended quickly. After a while, Ye Mengyan came back with Bei Wei and his deputy Yang Jie.
——The two of them led the investigationThe main force of the camp, including the wounded and sick who had been sleeping outdoors these days and the battle, were also with them, so most of them used their spare mounts to tow stretchers.
In addition, there were many war horses carrying strange large baskets on both sides. It was unknown what they contained, which seriously slowed down the speed, so that they would be entangled by the enemy. Including Beiwei Yang Jie, their faces were stained with some blood, but they themselves were not injured, and they seemed to be in good spirits.