Chapter 1134 Fierce Battle at Cishan
When Sun Zhen and others' cavalry were slowly moving forward in the ravine, on a hillside about two to three hundred meters away from them, Takahashi Nan was observing the terrain ahead with a telescope. The two companies he led had arrived at Cishan before nightfall yesterday, and several reconnaissance teams were sent into the mountain to lurk overnight. When Sun Zhen and his team set out from Guxian Town today, Gao Qiaonan led the troops into Cishan first, and his men had already pulled out several groups of hidden sentries arranged by the Wanjia Army in the mountain earlier. ——Several key points along the way from Shanwai to Chenjiagou were occupied by Haihan scouts in the middle of the night yesterday. These bandits waiting until morning to go there would be tantamount to surrendering themselves into a trap.
It has to be said that Gan Qiang was very careful in his actions. He considered sending people to monitor the passage into the mountain in advance to prevent Haihan from playing tricks. But unfortunately, Haihan's routine was too deep, and Gao Qiaonan had already thought of the methods Gan Qiang would use in advance and took effective countermeasures, making it impossible to guard against him. In terms of war experience, bandit leaders like Gan Qiang are far inferior to Gao Qiaonan, who has fought against regular armies and various civilian armed forces in many countries. Although he has a favorable geographical location, he is still at a clear disadvantage in terms of hard power. . It's just that Gan Qiang was trapped too deep, and even if he knew he was defeated, he couldn't go back.
"Battal Commander, those prisoners are very tough and refuse to cooperate. Do you want to use some means?"
When Takahashi Nan heard his subordinates' request for instructions, he immediately turned around and said: "With the current enemy situation, how can I have time to wait slowly with them... Forget it, I'll go see what's going on!"
These people sent by Gan Qiang to serve as outposts were considered his generals, and their psychological quality was much better than that of Gan Sheng. They knew that they might not end well after being captured, but they still refused to let go after being punched and kicked. The deployment of Wanjiajun in the mountains. Logically speaking, in this situation, the prisoners should be severely punished decisively, but Takahashi Minami personally led the team, so the people below naturally had to inform him, so as not to cause trouble in dealing with people's lives.
Gao Qiaonan came to the forest. The seven captured people were all tied to tree trunks. Several of them had clearly visible blood stains on their heads, faces and bodies. It seemed that they had suffered a lot when they were captured. Takahashi Nan slowly walked past these people, his eyes scanning their faces one by one. Some of them glared at him, while others deliberately avoided looking at him, but no one asked him for mercy.
"Since you all want to be so strong, I won't bother you anymore. Since you are a man, I will personally send you on your way!" Takahashi Nan said coldly: "Bring me my knife!"
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Takahashi Minami now leads his troops in battles mostly as command, and rarely fights in person. His sidearm has long been changed from a samurai sword to a revolver that comes standard with naturalized senior officers, so this saber is also made of The entourage carried it for him, more often as a symbol of personal status than as a combat weapon.
Takahashi Minami didn't even give these prisoners much time to think, so he pointed at two of them and ordered: "Put these two down first!"
Just then, Takahashi Nan glanced at the crowd, and these two people looked at him without fear, with ferocious looks in their eyes. They looked like people who were not afraid of death. Takahashi Nan had already thought of choosing them to kill as a warning to others. Follow suit. At that moment, Takahashi Minami's soldiers came forward to free the two men from the tree, handcuffed them behind their backs, and then kicked their knees to make them kneel to the ground. The two men held down their shoulders from behind. Make it impossible to struggle. These people had been following Gao Qiaonan for a long time. They knew Gao Qiaonan's intentions as soon as they heard the order and had already pinned the people to the ground without his instructions.
Takahashi Minami slowly pulled out the long sword from the scabbard, made two false blows in the air, and said in a deep voice: "You all died here today. If you want to blame it, it is because your master is too incompetent, so he can only send you out to die! But! Don’t be too sad, Gan Qiang will meet you later on Huangquan Road! If you have any grudges, you can settle them later!”
Takahashi Minami walked to one of them and slowly raised the knife in his hand. The two men next to him pulled his arm upwards from behind, stretching his head and neck to an angle suitable for cutting. The man was still dissatisfied and wanted to yell loudly, but unfortunately he could only curse two words. Before he could even raise his voice, the knife in Takahashi Nan's hand came down, and with a muffled sound, he cut through the neck. , a head fell straight to the ground, and his mouth was still yelling and cursing, but no sound could be made. The blood from his neck spurted several feet away, and the air in the forest was immediately filled with the smell of blood.
After Takahashi Minami cut off the head of the first man, he walked to the side of the second man with a knife in his hand expressionlessly. The man screamed like a pig: "The villain is willing to do it! The villain is willing to do it!"
"It's too late!" Gao Qiaonan spat out two words coldly, and slashed down without mercy. Blood spurted out, and immediately another head fell to the ground.
The visual impact of this public beheading was undoubtedly very great. Several prisoners tied to the tree were forced to watch the whole process. At this time, some people's crotches were already wet. Takahashi Minami wanted exactly this effect. His eyes slowly swept across the faces of the remaining people, and he said in a deep voice: "Those who are willing to confess now do not have to die."
As soon as Gao Qiaonan finished speaking, the remaining people tried their best to reincarnate themselves to fight for this chance of not having to die. People who didn't know, looking at the way they were gnashing their teeth, would probably think that there was some irresolvable hatred between them and Gan Qiang. Only they themselves know how terrifying it is to see their companions beheaded in front of them. All their previous persistence seems to have become a joke now.
Minami Takahashi spent two minutes solving the problem and quickly got the information he wanted. After Gan Qiang entered the mountain a few days ago, he sent someone to notify his nearby men to gather at Cishan, and at the same time selected Chenjiagou as the ambush site. As of this morning, before these prisoners set off from the ambush site, Gan Qiang had deployed about 400 people there, which was basically in line with the troop strength estimated by the command before the war.
In order to ensure that they would not be silenced immediately because they had lost their value, the remaining few people offered to lead the way to Chenjiagou and point out the gang's ambush location to assist the Haihan Army in arresting the bandit leader Gan Qiang. This undoubtedly provided an advance for the special operations battalion. Many problems were solved. Before the battle officially started, the Haihan Army had already taken the initiative.
Gan Qiang didn't know that his opponent was secretly controlling his every move. Until now, he thought that his plan was at least 80% certain, as long as Gan Sheng could lead the Haihan people into this ambush location according to his own arrangement. , he did not believe that he could not trap this cavalry team with more than ten times the strength. As for the life and death of his brother Gan Sheng, Gan Qiang actually doesn't care too much. He thinks that Gan Sheng has always been timid and fearful, and his ability to do things is not good, so he will not be able to help his "great cause". By sending him to lead the Han army into the mountains this time, he has maximized his effectiveness. If the plan can succeed, then paying the price of such a cannon fodder will be worth it in Gan Qiang's opinion.
There is a small temple that has been abandoned for many years on the hillside of Chenjiagou. It is impossible to verify whether it is dedicated to gods or bodhisattvas because it is so old. Gan Qiang asked Gan Sheng to lie that that was his place of residence and lure the Han army. Come and arrest. As long as the Haihan army entered that area, Gan Qiang would cut off their retreat, block them near the small temple, and launch attacks with bows, arrows, muskets, earth cannons and other weapons. Gan Qiang has always kept in mind the terrifying long-range weapons of the Haihan people. This time they fight again, he says he doesn't want to kill the opponent's lead bullets with his head anymore. At worst, he will spend ten and a half days in the mountains with these people. He won't believe it. Can't trap them to death.
Gan Qiang has even thought of a plan after this battle. If he can capture some of them alive, then he plans to ask for a sky-high ransom from the Haihan people, and use this as a way to reorganize the Wanjia Army and make a comeback in Dengzhou. of start-up capital. After defeating the Haihan people, he will recruit troops in Dengzhou and the process of annexing the old Wanjia Army will be accelerated a lot. Those who doubt their ability will probably join in order to avoid Haihan's attack. Come to your own camp. Although the current route is tortuous, the future is bright. After winning this battle, Gan Qiang believes that he and military advisor Pu Xueguang are stronger and weaker, and who should take the top spot can also make a conclusion on this.
I don't know how long he waited, but Gan Qiang finally saw the target appear in his field of vision. Just as he expected, the Haihan cavalry team probably couldn't resist the temptation to capture him. Under the leadership of Gan Sheng, they moved forward. Mountain.
"Are these idiots taking horses into the mountains to run horses in the mountains?" Gan Qiang looked at the horse team slowly moving forward on the mountain trails, feeling proud of his intelligence. Presumably even if military advisor Pu Xueguang comes, he can't do better than himself, right?
None of the secret sentries sent by Gan Qiang to set up defenses along the way sent out warning signals. This should mean that the Haihan people had no other accomplices quietly following them into the mountains, so they could safely and boldly attack the group in front of them. As soon as the cavalry entered the deserted temple in the mountains, Gan Qiang ordered the encirclement and suppression.
It was only a mile or less than two miles from the place where the cavalry appeared to the deserted temple, but Gan Qiang felt that it took the opponent a long time to complete this journey, so slow that he wished he could show up in person to lure the enemy. . Finally, he waited until the other party slowly came to a stop around the small temple, pretending to surround him outside, and then rushed in.
"Do it!" Gan Qiang had a hard time holding the words in his throat, and it was only then that he finally shouted them out.
The person next to him immediately set off a firework, which flew several feet into the air and exploded. It should have been visible from miles away. These fireworks were purchased by Wanmeng from the Dengzhou Ming Army at a huge price before. They were real military supplies, but they rarely had the chance to be used. Now they were considered foreign goods.
The bandits lurking in the forest first knocked down several trees that had been cut down in advance, allowing them to completely block the path into the mountain. Even if there were more than thirty people in the cavalry team, they would not be able to clear the trail again for a while. People slowly appeared in the forest around the deserted temple, and then more and more people came in groups from all directions.
"Here he comes!" Sun Zhen stood in the deserted temple, standing on tiptoe to observe the situation outside through the gap between the window lattice: "Load the bullets and prepare to fight!"
"Bring the horses in quickly!" Compared to the bandits in the mountains and forests, Wang Jinmin was more worried about the horses he brought. Since he had successfully lured the enemy, he must try to avoid his own losses at this time. The statues enshrined in this temple have long since weathered and collapsed into a pile of loess, and there is no cover for them. Even the door panels of the main hall have long since disappeared, and the walls and roof have collapsed in many places. Once engaged, there would be no cover from the front. If the horses were allowed to stay outside, they would inevitably not be taken into consideration. Fortunately, this deserted temple hall occupies a large area, and more than thirty riders and horses could barely squeeze in.
At this time, Sun Zhen could only pray that his opponents would not use fire attacks frantically as soon as they came up. In that case, they would probably have to give up the bunker of the deserted temple. And if you are exposed and have to deal with the enemies that are constantly pouring out around you, then this battle will not be easy to win. Of course, their biggest reliance was not on this deserted temple, but on the large army that was marching to nowhere.
Gao Qiaonan also saw this firework in the forest, and knew that that was where the bandit leader Gan Qiang was. He estimated the location and distance, and then issued the order: "The first company will follow me to the west to attack the area where the bandit leader is, and the fourth company will march to the location of the reconnaissance team to help them break out! Any rebels who encounter resistance will be killed regardless of their identity!"
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After the battle against the Zhoushan Islands in April last year, the special operations battalion has not conducted a battle of this scale. During this period, the combat mission was to send a small team of troops to Miaoli to assist other troops in wiping out the indigenous tribes, and the early When arriving at Zhifu Island, Gao Qiaonan led the team to capture the Ming army's pier in Yantai Mountain. Naturally, such a small task cannot satisfy the soldiers of the special operations battalion who are used to fighting in battles, so when they went into the mountains to suppress bandits this time, they were holding back their energy to perform well.
The war in the direction of the deserted temple started first. The bandits did not rush to attack the open front gate. Instead, they first tried to launch an offensive from the side and rear of the main hall. However, the cold guns fired from the ruins of the wall made the bandits who tried to approach the main hall very discouraged. One by one, they fell to a place ten feet away. The projectiles fired by the opponent's weapons could not even be blocked by an inch-thick wooden shield. However, the counterattack launched by our own archers found it difficult to find a clear target. We could only count on the direct attack. The forest cleared the way by holding two cannons from the front line, hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder.
It has to be said that Gan Qiang made a huge mistake in his choice of strategy. He has realized that Haihan's long-range killing firepower is extremely strong, but it is extremely unwise to open a fighting distance and fight with his opponent with long-range attack weapons. If he is ruthless, If he decided to ask his men to launch a desperate charge and swarm them from all sides, then the thirty or so guns hiding in the hall would only have a chance to fire two or three rounds before they would be able to break through the defense line. Once the combat distance is shortened to hand-to-hand combat, Haihan's individual combat advantage will be overshadowed by the gap in military strength.
(End of chapter)