Chapter 15 Sejong Chapter 15 Battle of Mingcheng in Central Asia
Chapter 2140 Sejong Chapter 15 Central Asia Storm·Battle of Mingcheng
What Liu Min was waiting for was the most suitable fighter opportunity, and what he was observing was the main force of the Eastern Expedition Army of hundreds of thousands, which was attached to the back of Marvell's army, a huge army with the elite of the Ghaznavid dynasty as its core.
As the leader of the Han people in Central Asia, as the leader of the Anxi Kingdom, and as a capable and capable commander, Liu Min's strategic vision has already evolved compared to twenty or thirty years ago.
His vision, mind, and capacity are all very large, and they are all based on a foundation that transcends ordinary military categories.
At that time, Liu Min was also very good at finding opportunities and seizing key points. From the very beginning, he targeted Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud and the Ghaznavid army of nearly 100,000 people.
To combat the YSL coalition's plan for the second Eastern Expedition, we must first defeat the Ghaznavid Army, which was the most fundamental support for the enemy's invasion. Liu Min knew this very clearly.
Therefore, from the beginning of the mobilization of troops, his goal was clear and definite, taking Mahmoud and the Ghaznavid army as his hunting targets. In contrast, the forward force led by General Mavir of the Ziyar State
No matter how crazy he is or how many jihadists there are, he is not in Liu Min's eyes.
However, it is indeed not that easy to find an opportunity to defeat the enemy with one blow and complete the victory in one battle. This requires excellent patience, keen judgment, strong ability to withstand pressure, and perhaps a certain amount of luck.
But no matter what, what Liu Min did at that time was like a seasoned hunter with amazing patience, quietly dormant, waiting for a fighter opportunity. And this fighter opportunity obviously required the sacrifice of the Mingcheng defenders to create.
As for the safety of all the soldiers below Liu Wentao who were holding Ming City and running from Haidong, it was somewhat insignificant in the big game of "War between Han and Yi".
In this regard, Liu Min's heart is very hard, and he even has a completely cold mentality. Why was he willing to hand over a large territory in Haidong to Beiting for management? How many benefits did Beiting grab from the Haidong area in the past few years?
, these are not without cost, nor are they simply to maintain the deep friendship between brotherly countries. They require corresponding responsibilities and missions. To stick to Ming City, to be precise, to defend Ming City is a necessary responsibility and reward.
Regarding this point, Liu Wentao, the envoy of the Haidong Economic Strategy, was also well aware of this, so he did not leave himself a way out in defense matters from the beginning. Those who also knew this naturally included Liu Wengong, but he clearly understood the consequences.
It is clear, but it is difficult to truly understand and accept it.
After all, Liu Wengong is not only the eldest brother of Liu Wentao, but also the king of the Beiting Kingdom. He must also view this matter from the perspective of the interests of the Beiting Kingdom. In the past few years, Beiting has indeed gained a lot of benefits through the Haidong region.
Although there are few benefits, they have also put in hard "management" and essentially helped Anxi consolidate the territory in the river. They deserve everything they get and they do not owe Anxi anything.
At the same time, the more than 6,000 Han troops in the Haidong area (increasing from the initial 3,000 to 6,000 year by year) are all the elite soldiers of the Beiting Kingdom, the backbone of the force. You must know that the entire Beiting Kingdom can barely mobilize two people.
Ten thousand Han troops were on foot and cavalry.
It is conceivable how Liu Wengong, the king of Beiting, felt when Liu Wentao and his elite soldiers from Beiting were treated as sacrifices and left to guard the Ming City. Under such circumstances, it was obviously appropriate for him to take care of the overall situation.
Some things were embarrassing, especially when Liu Min even sent symbolic reinforcements but did nothing to relieve the pressure on the Mingcheng defenders, which made Liu Wenggong even more dissatisfied.
In one month, the YSL coalition suffered tens of thousands of casualties and suffered more than 20% losses under the iron wall defense of the Mingcheng defenders. If it were not for the support of a group of fanatical jihadists and relying only on the weak so-called elites of the Ziyar Kingdom, they would have been defeated long ago.
He collapsed on himself.
In contrast, there were huge casualties among the Mingcheng defenders. More than half of them died and everyone was injured. The heaviest loss was the death of Haidong Economic Envoy Liu Wentao in battle. As the son of Zhao Wang Liu Fang, in terms of military talent,
Naturally, he is far from comparable to Nai's father, but he still wins the hearts of the military with his tenacity and strength.
During the defense period, he was even more calm and unhurried. He commanded on the front line for a long time. He even took the lead and participated in the fighting personally. He stayed away from the city for several days and nights, and stayed up for days and nights. Finally, after holding on for twenty-five days, he died of his injuries.
Only thirty years old.
With the death of Liu Wentao, Liu Wen lost a brother and Beiting lost a pillar, which was a heavy blow. In fact, this incident was also the beginning of the separation between Anxi and Beiting. Of course, that was the aftermath.
The most dangerous period of the Mingcheng attack and defense was obviously the days after Liu Wentao's death. In any war of any era, the death of a general can declare the war to have failed.
There are two reasons that allowed Mingcheng to continue to persevere. One was the instinctive resistance, and the other was the emergence of a figure who came to the rescue in times of crisis - Liu Jikun, the son of Liu Wentao and the inspector of the hospital.
Liu Jikun is the eldest son of Liu Wentao. He was born in the 28th year of Kaibao (990) at the age of fourteen. Although he is young, he has been with his father and uncle since he was a child. From the beginning of his consciousness, he has experienced the relative desolation of Beiting.
The tempering of the barren environment has witnessed the process of Beiting Kingdom starting from scratch, from scratch to gradually improving.
As a result, Liu Jikun not only developed a deep affection for the Beiting Kingdom, but also acquired an excellent military and political vision under the influence of his own experience. Especially during the years when he accompanied his father to guard Mingcheng and conducted military campaigns in Haidong, his military and political practice
Ability has also made great progress.
Different from the step-by-step training of princes and grandsons in the Central Empire, in the Anxi Three Kingdoms, or in most of the feudal states, it is very common for all clan members to encourage young people to grow.
After all, even the Han people wish they could divide one into two. As a descendant of the Tian family, he must also shoulder corresponding responsibilities and missions. He has to withstand the test since he was a child. If he cannot withstand it, he can only be eliminated as one.
Rice bug.
Liu Jikun, on the other hand, had to start working earlier. He officially joined the expedition at the age of eleven, serving as a staff officer and governing affairs. His position as inspector was not a false title given to the children of nobles.
Therefore, when Liu Wentao died, Liu Jikun resolutely fulfilled his father's orders and shouldered the heavy responsibility of defending the city. He took the bloody Han sword left by Liu Wentao and stood on the city wall.
Definitely.
However, even if Liu Jikun was ordered to face the danger, he could only hold on for a few more days. On the 29th day of the siege, the Mingcheng defenders were at the end of their strength and were on the verge of collapse. Of course, the YSL coalition forces outside the city would not fare well, and their military morale and morale were also not good.
After a long period of fierce fighting and huge casualties, they were completely destroyed.
In the end, the attack and defense of Mingcheng became a battle that measured endurance, willpower, and reinforcements. On the contrary, the number of direct battle scenes was reduced, and the intensity was also greatly reduced. This was also an important reason why Liu Jikun was able to persevere.
After reaching this level, the old hunter Liu Min couldn't sit still anymore. After all, he couldn't really sit back and watch the fall of Ming City, especially when the city was obviously undefendable, let alone the strategic point of Ming City.
It fell. That is, Liu Wen, the king of Beiting, and Liu Ye, the king of Kang, each led 60,000 troops of their own country and divided into two groups to attack Mingcheng. Liu Min led his own army and held back.
When the Han army took action, the Yisl coalition base camp almost acted in unison. Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud rushed troops and horses to aid Maweer, and at the same time mobilized all his troops and headed north to Mingcheng.
For the same reason, he could not just sit back and watch the collapse of Marvell's army. After all, Marvell's army, which had besieged Mingcheng for a month and failed to defeat it, was actually in a dangerous situation after the bloody battle. It doesn't take much, just one
With a fresh army of several thousand men, it could be defeated. This was something that Mahmud, who was good at conquest, could not fail to notice.
Obviously, while Liu Min was hunting, Mahmoud was also fishing, and his target was naturally the main elite of the Three Kingdoms of Anxi. They also thought about the beauty of a battle to settle the world. However, Liu Min remained stable for a month and remained motionless.
This made Mahmoud very helpless.
Of course, he finally chose to mobilize troops. In addition to Marvel's constant urging for help, it was also because Mingcheng's defense was indeed so fragile that it could be pierced with one finger. If you can't catch the big fish, then take it first.
Mingcheng is a strategic point, and we will plan later.
Both sides were willing to lay heavy baits, but they were also reluctant to let their baits be swallowed by their opponents. In the end, it was still a battle of physical strength. First, Liu Wen, the king of Beiting, personally led 10,000 cavalry, regardless of horse power and physical strength, and took the lead.
He rushed to Mingcheng, attacked the enemy directly, easily solved the siege of Mingcheng, and then launched a sudden attack on Marvell's army. With the continuous addition of follow-up troops, Marvell's army quickly collapsed.
Then YSL reinforcements arrived, and they immediately launched a counterattack against the Beiting Army, suppressing it with their numerical advantage. Then, the cavalry under the command of King Kangju Liu Ye arrived and also entered the battle.
In addition, Marvell took in some of the defeated soldiers, organized them and rejoined the fighting, and the follow-up infantry from both sides arrived one after another. In the autumn and winter of the eleventh year of Yongxi's reign, under the Ming City, the Han-Yi War broke out.
The first battle involving more than 100,000 people between the two sides was a melee on foot and cavalry.
This battle lasted for three days and nights, until both sides were exhausted, and they got away from each other. Of course, this was also related to the fact that the Chinese armies of both sides, led by Liu Min and Mahmoud, arrived in Mingcheng successively.
So as you can imagine, the real climax of the "Battle of Mingcheng" has arrived. After everyone regrouped, the Three Kingdoms Allied Forces, 110,000, the YSL Eastern Expedition Army, 160,000, and nearly 300,000 people from both sides, were twenty miles south of Mingcheng.
In a wilderness, they set up a battle array with gongs in front of them and drums in front of them, and started a decisive battle.
This battle, which consisted of a series of battles, lasted longer, lasting seven days and six nights, and within a short period of time they were evenly matched.
The Three Kingdoms Allied Forces, especially the Han army among them, have a high level of organization and equipment that cannot be compared to the mixed YSL Allied Forces. However, the YSL Allied Forces also have their advantages. A large number of jihadists who are not afraid of death are a force that can never be avoided.
At the same time, it is also inseparable from the outstanding command of Mahmud and his Ghaznavid generals.
Excellent leaders often have a group of elite talents gathered around them. Just like the upper class of the Three Kingdoms of Anxi is filled with many capable people, and the subordinates of the Beiting Kingdom can even stand out as young as fourteen years old, the Ghaznavid Dynasty also gave birth to a group of elites.
A general who can conquer battles.
On the other hand, the decades of the Han Army's Western Expedition not only contributed to major changes in the political, cultural, and religious landscape of the Dashi region, but also had a particularly obvious impact on the military.
For example, the use of gunpowder and firearms. In the eleventh year of Yongxi's reign, sharp weapons such as artillery, rockets, and sky-shattering cannons were no longer exclusive to the Han army. For example, the Ghaznavid dynasty was vigorously developing gunpowder weapons, and even
Some inferior imitation artillery began to use gunpowder in various war scenarios. During the southern expedition to the Indus River Basin, a large number of experiments were conducted.
The Battle of Mingcheng was an unprecedented "Gunpowder War". Both sides used gunpowder weapons on a large scale. To be honest, such a battle had never happened even in the Han Empire, which was the birthplace of gunpowder. Even the Empire
The locally produced gunpowder and weapons are enough to plow the surrounding countries. This is probably the problem of having no opponents.
Therefore, the battlefield outside Mingcheng is filled with smoke and thunderous, which is very appropriate. Of course, given the limited quality and power of gunpowder at present, it is no longer realistic to rely on it to completely control the development of the battle situation.
, after all, this is nothing new. For those who are prepared, it is just a killing weapon like the sword in their hand.
Of course, the effectiveness of different killing weapons will be completely different when used by different people. Obviously, the artillery and firearms of the Three Kingdoms caused more serious casualties to the YSL army.
However, what ultimately determines the outcome of the battle is the hand-to-hand combat, cavalry battles, and infantry battles accompanied by explosions. The emergence of artillery and the large amount of gunpowder used on the battlefield only mean the progress and innovation of military technology.
But the era of cold weapons is far from over. Therefore, both the war process and the results are rich in "traditional" things.
The outcome of the Battle of Mingcheng ultimately ended with the victory of the Three Kingdoms Allied Forces. If the highly organized, well-trained, and well-equipped Han armies of the Three Kingdoms were the basis for victory, then there were two other factors that dominated the final outcome of the battle.
result.
One is the 3,000 Guards Iron Cavalry that Liu Min never used no matter how critical the battle fronts or the forts were. They were also the last remaining force in the entire army. The other was the defenders who rested silently in Ming City for several days without being noticed.
, while the battle was in full swing outside the city, Liu Jikun quietly prepared less than two thousand capable soldiers.
The target of these two troops was the commander of the YSL army, Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud's central army. These five thousand men were not able to successfully defeat Mahmud's guard army, but when the commander encountered
After the attack, the high banner began to waver, so what shook the five thousand troops was the morale and morale of the hundreds of thousands troops.
The anxious battle situation changed from this. As Mahmoud was forced to leave, the YSL Eastern Expeditionary Army retreated and retreated for hundreds of miles.
PS: The "Han-Iran War" in the 11th to 12th years of Yongxi's reign can be regarded as the fifth large-scale war between the two civilizations.
The first time: Liu Min marched westward, restored broken leaves, and destroyed Black Khan;
The second time: YSL world formed the first coalition army for the Eastern Expedition, with the intention of restoring the Black Khan, and with the strong support of the Central Empire, they repelled it;
The third time: Anxi Governor's westward expedition, conquered Talas, defeated YSL's eastward expedition, and captured the towns in the eastern part of the Samanid Dynasty;
Fourth: The Allied Forces of the Three Kingdoms of Anxi marched westward to destroy the Samanid Dynasty and take the land in the river;
The Fifth: The Second YSL Eastern Expedition led by the Ghaznavid Dynasty in the 11th year of Yongxi's reign.