The soldiers carried guns on their backs and marched quickly under the cover of night.
Han Shuliang, commander of the First Division of the Fourth Army, held a temporary military meeting during the march.
"We must seize Tuling before dawn tomorrow.
Construct a sniper position and level the gravel on the hilltop.
The engineer battalion must arrange artillery positions as required.
Our mission is to ensure the safety of our artillery brothers and never allow any Ming army to rush to Tuling."
"clear."
"Please rest assured, division commander, our recruits have all been trained to march quickly in the new barracks.
With three meals a day, the soldiers' physical fitness was very strong, and they could rush to Tuling Mountain on the stipulated time without any problems."
Han Shuliang walked to the back of the team and saw Chief of Staff Li Wenfang and Artillery Division Commander Zhang Yuliang discussing matters.
Zhang Yuliang saw Han Shuliang coming over, and he said politely:
"Commander Han, our heavy artillery moves very slowly in this non-cement road terrain.
Especially when encountering potholes and bumps, the land needs to be leveled in advance.
Otherwise, the artillery carriage will easily get stuck and it will be very time-consuming to drag it out.
I would like to use the engineering battalion of your division to be responsible for leveling the land in front of the artillery vehicles to facilitate our transportation of heavy artillery.
I won't let your help go in vain. Our artillery division has some obsolete heavy artillery.
I am going to give these heavy cannons to you.
This kind of heavy artillery cannot use the most advanced explosive ammunition.
It is very powerful and can turn your division's artillery regiment into the most powerful artillery regiment in the entire army."
Han Shuliang narrowed his eyes and replied with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, you're welcome.
We are all friends, so there is no need to be so polite.
Only the engineer battalion is not enough. All the mules of our division are going to help your artillery division transport heavy artillery.
Let your mules transporting heavy artillery rest for a while. They will be full of energy and can move faster.
There probably won't be enough mules, so I'll just call a regiment of soldiers to help you transport it.
Even if I carry it on my shoulders, I will help you carry the supplies to Bald Ridge."
When Zhang Yuliang heard what Han Shuliang said, he thanked Han Shuliang warmly.
Heavy artillery is very difficult to transport in this kind of terrain.
The heavy artillery's gun carriage has been improved. The all-steel gun carriage can bear the weight of the heavy artillery and is also very light.
Now you can transport heavy artillery. Unlike before, you couldn't transport heavy artillery at all. If you are not careful, the heavy artillery will crush the artillery carriage and cause the heavy artillery to be damaged.
The wheels of the artillery cart are very wide and will not sink into the ground easily.
The entire gun carriage has a spring damping structure, so the heavy gun will not be bumped.
As long as the roads are not muddy on rainy days, there is no problem for mules to pull artillery carts in the terrain of Shaanxi.
Especially in winter, the ground is frozen very hard, and the road surface hardness can match that of cement roads, making it easier to transport heavy artillery.
The route they were marching on this time had not been traveled by anyone for a long time, so they needed some debris on the road of the engineering camp.
Han Shuliang watched the entire march, except for the sound of footsteps and the turning of axles.
The army was almost silent, no one was whispering.
It's the night of the first day of the Lunar New Year, and the soldiers are eating dumplings.
The command headquarters and the Fourth Army headquarters sent an order to their division. There was an urgent military situation and Tuling must be captured before tomorrow.
They assist the artillery division in constructing artillery positions and protect the safety of the artillery division that it may encounter.
"Tuling, we must get to Tuling as soon as possible.
I have never heard of the place name Tuling before. This small place also has the opportunity to leave its name in history."
Li Wenfang, chief of staff of the division, held the map and said:
"Tuling is a hillside more than 100 meters high in the northwest of Baoji Prefecture and on the south bank of the Weihe River.
If our military academy hadn't launched a cartography class specifically and sent out many scouts to survey nearby maps.
It is impossible to record such a small place on the map.
I guess the Ming army definitely doesn’t know that there is a small hillside here, and they wouldn’t care if they knew it.”
"Speed up the march, let's fight this battle well, there is a very high possibility that we will be blocked.
If the artillery division can really achieve its set goal, maybe in this battle, the most elite troops of the Ming army can be wiped out.
That way it will be very easy for us to capture Shaanxi."
Han Shuliang commanded the troops to march covertly and quickly in the direction of Tuling.
He didn't know the other directions of this war. Heavy troops were gathered here in Baoji.
Counting the strength of the garrison and the settlement corps, their number of troops is about the same as that of the Ming army.
Judging from the attitude of King Qin, he wanted to take over the entire Shaanxi.
Han Shuliang could also fight back to Lanzhou Guard and tell his relatives and friends that his choice was correct.
He has always used a false name, which is also a common method used by Ming army generals who surrendered.
I hope his family can survive natural and man-made disasters.
Once Shaanxi was truly brought under the rule of King Qin, the people of Shaanxi ushered in a happy life.
…………………………
In the Qin Army's Northern Front Headquarters, Su Hu convened a meeting with senior generals.
"It's the second day of the Lunar New Year, and we are about to launch an offensive against the Ming army.
The sound of cannon is an order, telling the troops to set off immediately when they hear the sound of cannon.
We must give full play to the advantages of rifled guns and try to take advantage of the invading Ming army.
We must use a beautiful victory to prove our strength to the world.
We got accurate information. Under Chongzhen's urging, the Ming army sent troops on New Year's Eve.
They wanted to catch us off guard, so we took advantage of the Ming army's mentality and set up a dragnet to wait for the Ming army to enter our encirclement.
The main force of the Ming army took a detour and used part of its force to attract the attention of the Weihe River defense line, while the main force crossed the Weihe River from other places.
The crossing point is five miles in front of Bald Ridge.
The time to cross the river is at dawn today.
The Ming army thought they were within a safe range.
They are actually within the range of our heavy artillery.
As long as we build an artillery position in Tuling to attack the Ming army crossing the river.
If this strategy succeeds, our subsequent battles will be much easier.
It can wipe out the elite troops of the Ming army in one fell swoop.
If something goes wrong, be ready to activate battle plan No. 2 at any time.
His Royal Highness the King of Qin’s strategy must be clearly communicated to the grassroots officers without making any mistakes.”
Wu Jie, commander of the Fourth Army, said with a smile: "Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty helped us a lot.
We are worried that we can't find a good opportunity to seize the Ming army's flaws and try to annihilate the Ming army's effective strength.
Emperor Chongzhen urged Sun Chengzong to attack on New Year's Eve.
These Ming troops were ordered to carry out Chongzhen's will.
They attacked before they were ready.
Most of the lower-level soldiers of the Ming army did not even have a cotton-padded coat.
The various units of the Ming army were very warlord-oriented, and most of the soldiers who could fight were the generals' servants.
These Ming armies cooperated very poorly with each other, giving us every opportunity to defeat them.
I still have to thank the people in the Military Intelligence Bureau, if they hadn't obtained the detailed combat plan of the Ming army.
We will not form a precise encirclement so easily."
Wang Shiyuan, Chief of Staff of the Third Army, said with a smile: "Relying only on the Military Intelligence Bureau cannot perfectly execute this kind of plan.
Our brothers will act as internal agents and become the vanguard of the Ming army.
The vanguard officers of the Ming army are all our people, how can the Ming army be undefeated?"
Except for Su Hu, it was the first time for other generals to hear this top-secret information.
There is no radio to deliver news now. Wang Shiyuan said that even if a homing pigeon is used to deliver the news, there is not enough time.
The artillery division was about to launch an attack. Even if the Ming army had carrier pigeons, the pigeons would not be able to fly to the Ming army camp on the other side of the river.
…………………………
Zhang Yuliang stared at the hourglass in front of him and saw the well-arranged artillery positions.
Only then did he relax from his nervous mood.
The artillery positions were arranged in advance, and more than half of the mission of their artillery division was completed.
The rest is to wait until the Ming army enters the range of artillery fire.
Zhang Yuliang picked up a telescope, lay down on the Bald Mountain, and observed the direction of the Wei River.
He kept talking about various parameters, and his guard took out a pen and paper and recorded these parameters.
Zhang Yuliang is calculating the area covered by artillery fire and the specific parameters of the impact point of the artillery shell.
The accuracy of the rifled gun can reach twenty meters.
This kind of accuracy is not high, but multiple cannons fire a salvo to provide fire coverage.
Zhang Yuliang can choose to pour a large amount of ammunition into a certain area.
…………………………
Wang Shichong, the commander-in-chief of Ganzhou, acted as a vanguard officer and led his soldiers across the Wei River.
Along the south bank of the Wei River, they sent out soldiers at night to carefully explore the surrounding environment on horseback.
All places were explored clearly, especially the inconspicuous hillside on the left front.
He sent his hidden confidants to investigate the situation there.
Ye Bushou quickly returned from the investigation, and they explained in detail what they had discovered.
He called the deputy general and ordered: "Go and report to Mr. Sun that everything is normal up front and there is no trace of the thief in yellow.
Tell Mr. Sun that I will lead a team all night long and continue to explore forward."
Wang Shichong watched the deputy general leading his soldiers across the frozen Wei River.
This man was from the Guan Ning Army and was Lord Sun's confidant, responsible for keeping an eye on him.
After Wang Shichong saw the deputy general leaving, he left behind a close aide of Chai Shihua, the former Ganzhou commander-in-chief.
Responsible for meeting the Ming army preparing to cross the river here.
He took his confidants with him and marched quickly towards Baoji on the grounds of exploring the situation ahead.
Sun Chengzong heard his confidants reporting on the situation on the south bank of the Wei River.
"Wang Shichong really sent troops to investigate clearly. There are no thieves in yellow hiding on the south bank of the Wei River."
The man answered honestly: "Master Sun Mingjian, I sent my own soldiers and General Wang's people to explore the surrounding situation together.
I can guarantee that there are absolutely no thieves in yellow hiding within four miles of the Weihe River.
At this range, the thieves in yellow have lost the suddenness of their surprise attack.
Three or four miles south of the Wei River is a flat plain.
Now you can use a telescope and the moonlight to see the situation on the other side."
When Sun Chengzong came here, he used a telescope to see the situation on the other side.
There were so many generals, but none of them found any trace of the thieves in yellow on the other side.
His confidants reported the situation discovered by the vanguard.
Sun Chengzong made up his mind to cross the Wei River as soon as possible.
Hong Chengchou led the troops, disguised as the main force, and was responsible for attracting the attention of the yellow-robed thieves at the Weihe River defense line.
The soldiers he led were all new soldiers, who could not withstand several rounds of attacks by the thieves in yellow.
Once the thief in yellow breaks through Hong Chengchou's disguise.
They will definitely send a large number of manpower to investigate the movements of his main force.
There is not much time left for him.
Sun Chengzong needs to seize this opportunity and create greater results.
He thought that Wang Shichong's performance during this period had proved his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty.
Wang Shichong was a confidant of Chai Shihua, the former commander-in-chief of Ganzhou.
He reported that Chai Shihua secretly colluded with the yellow thieves and sold the muskets issued by the court to the yellow thieves at a high price.
Wang Shichong was very loyal to the Ming Dynasty, so he discovered Chai Shihua's actions.
Immediately expose Chai Shihua’s ambition.
Sun Chengzong found a large number of gold coins made by the thieves in yellow from Chai Shihua's residence.
Emperor Chongzhen has issued a strict decree prohibiting the circulation of this kind of gold and silver coins unique to the yellow-robed thieves.
Possessing the currency and newspapers of the thieves in yellow is a crime equivalent to treason.
When Chai Shihua saw the evidence was solid, he had no way to deny it.
I can only admit that he was afraid of the thieves in yellow and could not withstand the temptation of the thieves in yellow, so he betrayed a lot of confidential information of the Ming army.
Sun Chengzong directly ordered Chai Shihua to be executed, and he felt very fortunate.
Fortunately, it was the time to officially receive supplies.
Chai Shihua was not exposed to this battle plan.
Sun Chengzong could not even imagine the harm it would bring to the Ming army.
He praised Wang Shichong for his loyalty and promoted Wang Shichong to the new Ganzhou Commander-in-Chief.
Wang Shichong reported Chai Shihua and cut off the yellow thief's internal support in the Ming Dynasty.
The thief in yellow has already released the news, offering a reward of one thousand taels of silver coins on Wang Shichong's head.
Sun Chengzong believed that Wang Shichong had no way to surrender to the yellow-robed thieves, and he was loyal to the Ming Dynasty.
Wang Shichong volunteered to serve as a vanguard officer to investigate the true identity of the thieves in yellow.
Sun Chengzong agreed to Wang Shichong's request. Just in case, he also asked his confidants to serve as Wang Shichong's adjutants.
He learned about the situation on the other side of the river and ordered the generals:
"First let the local Shaanxi troops and horses cross the Wei River and build fortifications.
Then other armies followed immediately, and the cavalry finally crossed the Wei River."
Sun Chengzong issued an order for the army to cross the river in batches.
Now that the Wei River is frozen, these infantrymen can easily escape if something goes wrong.
He put the cavalrymen, who had a difficult time crossing the river, at the last place to cross the river.
The Ming army gradually began to cross the river, and the servants wore cotton-padded jackets of various colors.
These are cotton-padded clothes donated by local gentry.
Ordinary military households can only wear a few shabby single clothes.
They try their best to run, but if they run a little slower, their bodies will get frostbite easily.
Sun Chengzong saw that the large army had crossed the Wei River.
Now a red sun has appeared in the horizon.
Sun Chengzong used a telescope to look across the river, but found no trace of the thieves in yellow on the other side of the Weihe River.
"Inform the cavalry and start crossing the river.
The other troops broke camp and headed towards Baoji City."
Sun Chengzong finally felt relieved and ordered Guan Ning's cavalry to cross the river.
At the same time, he gave orders to the troops crossing the river, asking them to march quickly and go straight to Baoji City.
…………………………
Han Shuliang was lying on the bald ridge, observing the movements of the Ming army with a telescope.
"Mr. Zhang, what should we do?
The cavalry of the Ming Army had just crossed the river, and the infantry of the Ming Army also began to pack up their tents and prepare to continue marching.
Now the artillery fire was launched, and the Ming cavalry ran away directly.
Once all the Ming army cavalry has crossed the river, the infantry in front will be out of the attack range of the heavy artillery."
Zhang Yuliang saw Han Shuliang struggling, he smiled and said: "The main task of our artillery division is to eliminate as many effective forces of the Ming Dynasty as possible.
The Ming army's cavalry had the Guards responsible for dealing with them, but our artillery still achieved great success in attacking densely packed enemies.
There are so many things in the world that offer the best of both worlds.
As long as I achieve my basic goals, I won't hesitate."
Zhang Yuliang immediately ordered: "All heavy artillery, aim directly in the direction of Guan Ning's army."
At the same time, he sent the messengers to send the adjusted parameters of the heavy artillery to every artillery officer.
When artillery officers obtain these parameters, they can adjust the firing angle according to the location of their cannon.
The parameters given by Zhang Yuliang also try to make the salvo standard uniform.
There will be no own-shot incidents where multiple cannons attack the same target.
When Zhang Yuliang started to cross the river, he used binoculars to carefully observe the Ming army's camp.
He selects valuable targets and records their location parameters in detail.
The artillery division comes here with only two brigades.
The artillery division here has a total of 350 heavy guns, but there are more than 100,000 people on the south bank of the Wei River.
Three hundred and fifty heavy artillery pieces bombarded more than 100,000 people, but the result was really not high.
If the artillery attack on Guan Ning's army was concentrated, the results would be completely different.
The artillery shelling of more than 100,000 people could result in at most 10,000 or 20,000 casualties for this Ming army, but most of the army was not defeated.
Specifically targeting the Guan Ning Army, the same number of casualties would be 10,000 or 20,000, which could directly cripple this Guan Ning Army.
It is better to cut off one of his fingers than to hurt ten of them.
What's more, doing so is also related to a grand strategy.
Zhang Yuliang received feedback from the messenger that all heavy artillery had adjusted their angles, and he issued the order directly.
"A volley, ten shots fired at a rapid rate."
The ordering soldier lit the signal flare directly.
A huge green flare exploded directly in the air.
The officers of the artillery division saw the signal flare rising and observed its shape.
They immediately gave the order.
"Prepare for salvo, ten rounds of ammunition."
The heavy artillery has already been loaded with explosive shells and the shooting angle has been adjusted.
The artilleryman pulled the ignition cord and ignited the gunpowder directly in the barrel.
The cannonball is driven by the gunpowder and affected by the rifling, and flies out of the barrel in a high-speed spiral state.
The cannonball rotates at high speed and maintains a relatively stable trajectory in the air.
More than half of the artillery division's heavy artillery, 350 heavy artillery pieces, roared simultaneously.
…………………………
Wu Sangui and his soldiers were just about to walk down the Weihe River.
He suddenly asked the soldiers beside him: "Have you heard something whistling? This whistling sound is very strange."
"This should be the sound of wind! The wind here in Shaanxi is sometimes stronger than the wind in Liaodong.
Now that the cold wind has just stopped, it’s probably going to blow again.”
"General Wu, look at the sky, what are those things?"
Wu Sangui looked up at the sky. There were many black spots on the sky, heading in their direction.
He said in horror: "Get back, everyone, get back quickly."
Wu Sangui knew that the thief in yellow had sharp firearms, and these flying objects were the firearms used by the thief in yellow.
He could simply analyze that it was a cannonball flying over from the thief in yellow.
The thief in yellow is really too rich and has too many red cannons in his hands.
With such a dense artillery shell, the number of cannons must be indispensable.
Wu Sangui quickly retreated with his troops and horses.
Sun Chengzong also used a telescope to observe this scene.
"No, the thieves in yellow are ambushing us. Let the army withdraw quickly."
The first moment he saw these things, he knew that the thieves in yellow were shelling the army on the other side of the river.
The thieves in yellow had put in so much effort, and this shelling would definitely determine the outcome of the war.
As soon as Sun Chengzong finished speaking, he saw these cannonballs falling into the military formation.
Soon there was a huge explosion and flash.
Thick gunpowder smoke rose from the explosion site, and Sun Chengzong could no longer see the situation on the other side through the telescope.
But he could hear the wails and screams of the Ming army on the other side.
Sun Chengzong clenched his fists so hard that his nails pierced his palms.
The troops crossing the river this time were all elite troops from Shaanxi.
A hundred thousand troops including more than 20,000 Guan Ning troops.
After being bombarded by the thieves in yellow, I don’t know how many people will come back alive.
This time he led troops to encircle and suppress the thieves in yellow, but failed at the beginning. This was not a good sign.
…………………………
Su Hu looked at the south bank of the Wei River, and the explosions of explosive shells kept ringing out.
The smoke there has risen into the sky, and it looks spectacular from a distance.
"The whole army attacks, and remember at the same time, if you encounter Guan Ning's army, give me a hard beating.
I must cripple Guan Ningjun.
For other Ming armies, as long as their resistance is not fierce, there is no need to deal too hard.
When encountering Guan Ning's army and other armies, give priority to pursuing Guan Ning's army."
After Su Hu finished speaking, all the generals returned to their troops and led their troops to attack the Ming army.
Qu Xiangyang, Zhu Shi of the Third Army, saw soldiers running towards the south bank of the Wei River with guns on their backs.
He sighed: "His Royal Highness the King of Qin's plan is really brilliant.
More than half of our army are new recruits, so there is no problem if we let them practice fighting in favorable battles.
Let them engage in a difficult encirclement and annihilation battle. Even if the forces are equal, we will have the advantage in weapons.
These new soldiers may not be able to perfectly encircle and suppress the Ming army if they carry out military orders.
If an accident occurs, there may be heavy casualties.
But it is much easier to target Guan Ningjun.
We can concentrate our superior forces and annihilate Guan Ning's army.
This Ming Dynasty's most elite Ming army is likely to become history.
This is the military law taught by His Highness the King of Qin, even if the army is at a numerical disadvantage.
We also try our best to find ways to create a situation in which more people fight against fewer people in local wars.
This is still an upright conspiracy, making the Ming army suspicious of each other and unable to unite and cooperate."
…………………………
Cao Wenzhao waited until the smoke dissipated a little, then he got up from the ground and looked around.
Most of the Ming army was fine, but the camp of Guan Ning's army suffered a lot of shelling.
He expected that the Guan Ning Army would suffer at least half casualties through this attack.
Cao Wenzhao immediately ordered: "Go quickly and save people."
Cao Bianjiao hesitated and said: "Uncle, Guan Ning's army should be targeted by the thieves in yellow.
If we go there now, we may be bombarded by thieves in yellow, which is really too dangerous."
"They are all colleagues of Guan Ningjun. It is impossible for us to ignore them."
Cao Wenzhao's attitude was very tough, and he led his army to rescue Guan Ning's army.
He comforted his nephew and his soldiers on the road.
"It's been such a long time since it turned into a dragon. The smoke has dissipated, but the thieves in yellow still haven't launched another bombardment.
I could feel the cannonballs from the thieves in yellow flying from at least five miles away.
The impact point of their shells was basically near the Guanning Army camp.
Cannons with this kind of range and accuracy must be very rare.
When the men in yellow saw that the bombardment was taking effect, they were reluctant to waste the shells.
My guess was correct. The bombardment by the yellow-robed thieves had ended, and soon a large group of yellow-robed thieves rushed over.
We must rescue quickly and withdraw from the battlefield as soon as possible."
Cao Wenzhao felt very lucky that he was from the Guan Ning Army.
However, they followed Governor Hong Chengchou to suppress the bandits and were classified as local Shaanxi troops, so they were not bombarded by the yellow-clad thieves.
When Cao Wenzhao approached the Guan Ning Army camp, he was frightened by the shelling scene.
He saw the remains of many soldiers. As a veteran on the battlefield, he felt retching when he saw this scene and couldn't help but vomit.
This scene is simply like Shura hell.
Other Ming troops around the Guan Ning Army camp were obviously frightened by the bombardment of the yellow-robed thieves.
They scrambled, turned around and ran back, basically ignoring Guan Ning's army who suffered heavy casualties.
Only Guan Ning's army, which had escaped the bombardment, was rescuing its companions.
Cao Wenzhao led his troops to rescue the Ming army on the periphery of Guan Ning's camp and shelled the core area. There was no need for rescue.
People there are either dead or disabled, and there is no way to escape the battlefield quickly.
As you look around the core area of the bombardment, you can see craters of all sizes, stumps and broken arms everywhere, and not even a complete human figure can be seen.
Only on the periphery of the camp were there a large number of injured Guan Ning troops.
"Brother, how are you?"
Cao Bianjiao patted a seemingly intact general of the Guan Ning Army.
The general of Guan Ning Army slowly opened his eyes, and his first words after waking up were:
"Hurry and save Lord He Kegang."
"This man is still alive, carry him over for treatment."
Cao Wenzhao had just passed by the camp of General He Kegang.
The area near the general's camp was the focus of the bombardment by the thieves in yellow.
He saw He Kegang's broken armor, and it was obvious what happened to He Zongbing.
Cao Wenzhao heard the sound of intensive drums and loud military songs in the southern area.
His expression changed, and he urged in an anxious tone: "The army of thieves in yellow is coming, let's withdraw immediately.
There are Ning cavalry on the other side of the river, and the thieves in yellow don't dare to pursue them in a big way."