Chapter 1491: Inability to deal with it
In a head-to-head confrontation on the battlefield, Geng Zhongming believed that he would not be intimidated by any opponent. After all, he had fought out of the blood sea of corpses in Dengzhou City. He had long been accustomed to life and death, and he would not be affected by the death of some of his subordinates in the battle. to his will. It's just that the Haihan Cavalry's form of harassment battle is beyond his understanding. He wants to ignore it but can't bear the continuous killings. He wants to fight seriously, but the opponent uses the range to cleverly avoid frontal combat. The situation is really disappointing. Headache.
Geng Zhongming never thought that his opponent's small force could cause such a big trouble for him. Looking at the Haihan army wandering around the periphery, there were only a few hundred horsemen and horses, but if he stopped and concentrated fire, he could get in his own formation. Causing at least dozens of casualties. Although these casualties are nothing on the battlefield, the cycle repeats itself, and within a short time we have inexplicably lost hundreds of cavalry. There had already been such a large number of casualties before engaging the opponent's main force. Once a head-on battle occurred, the Haihan Army's offensive on his own flank would inevitably intensify. He did not dare to bet on whether his cavalry could carry it. Withstand the opponent's intensive attacks.
Before finding an effective way to deal with the Haihan cavalry, Geng Zhongming could only order a postponement of the march because it was difficult for the marching troops to form a formation and could only rely on peripheral cavalry to provide protection. After the troops stopped, he could arrange the infantry to form a formation and the cavalry to respond maneuverably. At the same time, he sent an order to mobilize two more Niu Lu's Houjin cavalry for reinforcements. If the Haihan cavalry still rushes forward desperately, Geng Zhongming believes that his own strength advantage can also be converted into firepower advantage and give him a fatal blow.
"Stop!" Qian Tiandun immediately noticed the movement of the Han army flag through the telescope, and roughly guessed the enemy commander's intention: "It seems they are planning to deploy more cavalry to protect the flanks."
"Isn't this going back to the same old routine?" Harugong was not panicked when he saw this. The Haihan Army and the Hou Jin Army had fought many times, and they had seen all kinds of tactics. The Hou Jin Army could use them. His moves have been used over and over again many times. If he could break Haihan's tactics, he would never wait until Hanjunqi appeared.
A smile appeared on Qian Tiandun's lips and he said: "This Han army flag is new, and Azig probably hasn't revealed all his defeats. Since they want to give it a try, let them suffer again. ”
Han Junqi didn't know how powerful Haihan's army was, but Houjin Cavalry, who had fought against Haihan many times, knew it all too well. The so-called strength advantage does not play a decisive role in the battle of the Haihan Army. In some cases, it even just has the effect of consuming a little more enemy ammunition.
They couldn't defeat the Haihan infantry on the frontal battlefield, and at least they still had the opportunity to retreat flexibly. However, fighting against the more mobile Haihan cavalry had now become a recognized nightmare for the Houjin cavalry. Moreover, Geng Zhongming only ordered the cavalry that dropped the Manchurian flag to come over for reinforcements after his own cavalry suffered a setback. This made those who led the troops even more dissatisfied - when you want to take credit, just let your troops go. I know it hurts when I kick my foot on the iron plate. Now it's my person who goes up to jack up the cylinder?
Dissatisfaction was dissatisfaction, but Azig had handed over the command of this battle to Geng Zhongming. Even if these low-level officers were angry, they did not dare to disobey military orders and could only mobilize their troops and attack bravely.
The Haihan Cavalry was very familiar with the enemy's tactics of trying to gain battlefield advantage with strength. They did not panic when they saw the Hou Jin Cavalry forming up and pressing forward. They first retreated to create a safe distance to ensure that the opponent would launch a sudden charge. There is enough time to react. Then it was time to repeat the previous tactics, stop, line up, aim, and fire. Geng Zhongming deployed more cavalry on the flanks, but it seemed that this deployment did not play its intended role, and the opponent was not deterred by the additional troops and continued to fire from the outside.
The main weapons and equipment of the Houjin Cavalry are sabers and bows and arrows. However, these two weapons are unable to attack enemies hundreds of feet away. Even the hundreds of shields they cobbled together before setting off can't protect their lives. . As the guns rang out in the distance, people kept falling off their horses while wailing. But just as they were about to take action, the group of Haihan cavalry in the distance had already put away their guns and changed places.
Chase? The chase was just another kite flying by the Haihan cavalry, and this place was not far from its artillery position, so one accidentally got caught in the opponent's fire range. That might be more than just taking a shot.
It was only then that Geng Zhongming realized that the strength gap between the two sides could not be solved by adding more troops. If the fighting distance was not shortened to the point where his side could use attack methods, then even if tens of thousands more people were sent to fight, the battle would be over. It's also impossible to fight. But he also knew that Liaodong currently did not have tens of thousands of armed forces for him to command. In addition to the three thousand troops under his command, there were also some cavalry and baggage troops sent by Azig to cooperate with him. Together, It looked like a large scale, but to deal with Haihan's unheard-of tactics, it was stretched everywhere and couldn't be used at all.
But in any case, at least the Haihan cavalry did not dare to get too close to their own military formation. Geng Zhongming could not keep delaying like this, so he could only order to continue marching, leaving the battle on the flanks completely to the newly transferred Manchurian flags. As for how the Manchurian flag officers would scold him now, he no longer cared so much.
Qian Tiandun and Harugong were not worried about the two lines of cavalry sent to harass the enemy's flanks. As long as they did not want to fight, they could easily get out of the enemy's range of activities, but it was difficult for the enemy to do anything. Effective attack methods can truly threaten them, and the advantage of weapon range allows the cavalry to suppress opponents from a long distance.
If there is any shortcoming, it is probably that the amount of ammunition consumed by this tactic is quite large. Because the combat distance is too far, the accuracy error can only be made up by the number of bullets fired. A distance of 100 meters It may only take two or three bullets to hit the enemy, but when the distance increases to a hundred feet, the bullets required will double exponentially. After the intermittent fighting lasted for about forty minutes, the two cavalry units had to distance themselves, concentrate their ammunition and then redistribute it, leaving only a few elites to continue to carry out the harassment, and let some of them return to the camp for supplies.
This finally gave the Hou Jin army a chance to breathe, and they seized the time to move forward, hoping to quickly move to a position where they could launch an offensive before Haihan's next group of cavalry was dispatched. The wish is beautiful, but the reality is cruel. Whether it is cavalry or infantry, the gap in weapons, equipment and tactics is an obstacle that the Jin army cannot overcome. What made them despair the most was that the Haihan Army deliberately did not fire a single shot and placed them closer. When they arranged their formations, set up gun emplacements, and were ready to launch a formal offensive, Then suddenly the fire started.
More than a dozen artillery pieces roared almost at the same time, and their target was a gun position that had just been set up by the Han Army Flag. Although the distance between this position and the Haihan military formation is as far as one mile, even the Haihan artillery, which is famous for its accuracy, is difficult to penetrate the soul with one shot. However, when more than ten artillery fires are concentrated at the same time, their firepower coverage area is enough to make up for the accuracy. The degree is not enough. In the first round of bombardment, two Houjin gunners were torn into pieces, and in the second round of bombardment, two shells hit the location of the artillery, one after the other, destroying the seven-meter gun. The iron cannon weighing more than 100 kilograms fell to the ground. There was a crack as wide as a finger on the barrel, and it was immediately scrapped.
Of course, Geng Zhongming did not dare to let Haihan continue to perform. In fact, when Haihan started bombarding, he also ordered the bombardment of the opponent's position. However, compared with the opponent's weapons, the artillery in his hands was inferior in accuracy and range. It has no advantages in terms of launch speed and lethality. Bombing targets one mile away depends more on luck than skill. Before his artillery fired the second round, another artillery position was destroyed by Haihan's concentrated fire.
Geng Zhongming only brought a total of eight artillery pieces to the front line. Although his Han army flag was equipped with far more artillery pieces, the heavy cannons were inconvenient to transport and could only be deployed in the city, while the lighter tiger crouching cannons, The range of the Folang machine gun is not enough, so it is almost useless in this kind of artillery battle that requires increasing the engagement distance. Unexpectedly, eight out of eight had already been eliminated as soon as the formation was set up. And looking at this momentum, it would be difficult for the eight cannons on our side to last until the end of the battle.
It was hard for Geng Zhongming to imagine why Haihan could possess such a sharp weapon, but it only took him a short time to figure out the truth. With his current conditions, if he wanted to defeat his opponent on the frontal battlefield, he would probably have to wait. Only when the Haihan army has run out of ammunition and food. To fight a war of attrition at this level, I am afraid that Huang Taiji would have to personally order and gather the elites from all over the country to put them on this battlefield. Maybe there would be a chance to eliminate the opponent's advantage abruptly.
Fight a national war with these thousands of Haihan troops? Geng Zhongming thought that if he reported it like this, Huang Taiji would probably think that he had a fever and burned out his brain. He knew that his master wanted to create an ambitious hegemony. He had been planning to attack North Korea since last year and was in the final preparation stage, but was interrupted by the Haihan people who suddenly came out. But Huang Taiji obviously didn't want to be involved in this matter. He was too distracted. In his opinion, Haihan was a southern country located thousands of miles away, and what Jin needed to suppress or even eliminate were some unconquered tribes in the bordering Korea, Ming Dynasty, and Mongolia. The war that broke out seemed inexplicable and pointless.
Therefore, Huang Taiji left the war in Jinzhou to Azige and Yanguli. He believed that having these two people in Jinzhou should be enough to control the situation. But I didn't expect that Yangu Li died on the battlefield, and Azig seemed to be unable to achieve a decent record, let alone drive the Haihan Army out of the Liaodong Peninsula. Under such unfavorable circumstances, Huang Taiji mobilized Geng Zhongming from the Han Army Banner, hoping that he could teach these enemies from the south some lessons with "advanced" weapons and equipment.
But perhaps Azig had reservations in order to protect himself when explaining the previous battle situation. Geng Zhongming did not discover until he led his troops on the battlefield that the strength of the Haihan Army was stronger than what he had previously known. The various tactics prepared did not seem to pose a sufficient threat to the enemy at all. Instead, they were restrained at every turn during the battle, and the rhythm of the battle was completely controlled by the enemy.
As a commander with rich combat experience, Geng Zhongming is naturally aware of the danger of the current situation. If he continues to fight against the Haihan Army at the current pace, his Han Army Flag will probably end up being the same as Azig's. Like the troops, they were beaten so hard that they couldn't even fight back. He suddenly understood why every report from Azig was a bit vague and unclear about how to defeat. If it were him, he would probably have no choice but to cover up his inability to do so in the battle report.
At present, there is probably only one reasonable way to change this war situation with the strength of the Han Army Banner itself, and that is to take the initiative to retreat. Geng Zhongming was able to abandon Dengzhou City and escape from the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, he was considered a hero who could afford to let go. He would not be limited by the outcome of this battle. Moreover, he can be regarded as a decisive person. Although his own side obviously suffered a loss in the previous battle, he did not intend to defeat many enemy troops before retreating. Instead, he immediately ordered the troops to retreat.
When Qian Tiandun heard the sound of gongs in the enemy formation in the distance, he couldn't help but sigh: "This Geng Zhongming is a smart man. He knows how to advance and retreat. No wonder he can survive until now!"
"At least the brain is much easier to use than Azig!" Although Harugong did not agree with Qian Tiandun's "smart man" evaluation, he had to admit that the general commanding the battle on the opposite side had a better brain than Azig. Sober, after realizing that the situation on the battlefield was not good, he decisively chose to leave on his own initiative. However, the Haihan Army, which did not have the advantage in strength, was difficult to form an outflank and encirclement force. At most, it could kill some stragglers during its retreat. Even that’s good.
"It's a pity that this guy never showed up, and the sniper he arranged was of no use." Qian Tiandun was still a little dissatisfied that this battle did not deal a substantial blow to Geng Zhongming. If he could kill Geng Zhongming directly, there would be no doubt that It would be a heavy blow to Hou Jin's military strength. But the opponent probably also knew that Haihan had such a special fighting method, so he was very careful and did not appear in the sight of Haihan's sniper from the beginning to the end.
Seeing that the enemy was really planning to evacuate the battlefield, Harugong immediately ordered the cavalry to attack again, taking advantage of the opponent's inability to fight back and causing as much damage as possible. Although most of the soldiers on the opposite side were Han Chinese, for the Haihan Army, there was no substantial difference between them and the Manchurian flags in the Later Jin Army, and there was no need to show mercy to them.
(End of chapter)