The ensuing battle was mainly fought for water sources. There were only a few water sources in the Ningxia desert, and now they were all occupied by the Ming army. Without water supplies in the scorching heat, the battle could not be fought at all.
The Qie Xue Army is the elite of the Xixia Army. What they are best at is fighting without logistical supplies. If there is no food, they can collect it on the spot. If there is no drinking water, they can drink mare's milk or even horse blood. But in this desert, there is no way to do it.
There is no way to collect food and grass, and even drinking mare's milk is unrealistic. If the mare cannot drink water, where will the milk come from?
Being attacked and harassed by Ming army cavalry, it was impossible to guarantee the supply of food, grass and drinking water for the tens of thousands of troops ahead.
After gathering part of the army, Gu Lunmu decided to concentrate on attacking the nearest water source. Although the Ming army had strong firepower, it had to be integrated to be effective. The stronghold held by hundreds of men and a few armored steam chariots could not resist the attack of a large group of cavalry.
The battle went smoothly. Seeing the overwhelming Xixia army, the Ming army fired a few cannons and then withdrew. The thirsty Xixia army finally got a water source, and the soldiers rushed towards the pond.
, even the war horses that smelled the water vapor neighed wildly and struggled with the reins to drink water.
Gu Lunmu was also thirsty, but he still maintained a clear mind and ordered everyone not to drink water. He used a few horses to test whether there was any poison in the water. The horses did not have any strange reactions after drinking the water.
Gu Lunmu was relieved and asked the soldiers to get water for drinking. This small pond turned into a swamp in just half a day. There was little water and many people, so many Mongolian soldiers would rather feed their war horses without drinking water first.
After the war horse was full, he took a sip to moisten his lips.
But something unexpected happened. The horses that were the first to drink water suddenly rolled all over the ground and screamed wildly. After a while, they foamed at the mouth and fell to death. The Xixia army was shocked! After all, there was still something in the water.
It's poisonous, but the effect is slower.
Poor thousands of war horses did not die on the battlefield, but died under the poison of the Han people. The angry eyes of the knights who lost their horses were about to spit out fire. Mongolians love horses and worship them. For their own
The horse is closer than the wife. Watching the beloved horse die in pain is really more painful than ripping out their hearts. Some people roared on the spot and wanted to take revenge, but they were suppressed by Gu Lunmu.
Gu Lunmu was heartbroken, but as a general, he was responsible for the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers under his command. He was responsible for the mission entrusted to him by His Majesty the Emperor. A cavalry without a horse is not as useful as an infantry. Here,
In the vast desert, with no supplies of food, grass and water, confronting the Ming army armed to the teeth would mean death, so he resolutely ordered to retreat to Ningxia City.
Liu Ziguang implemented an all-round roller three-dimensional combat. He knew the weaknesses of his army in the field. Small-scale troops would definitely not be opponents in a one-on-one battle. Therefore, he had to use his strengths and avoid weaknesses and give full play to his firepower and information advantages. With airships and airships in the sky,
Radio command, he can detect the coordinates of the enemy at any time, and use the radio to direct his mechanized troops to attack. Moreover, the activity radius of all troops is within the observation range of the airship. Heavy artillery and power parafoils can provide support at any time. The entire army
Like a well-tuned large-scale war machine, it slowly rolled forward with overwhelming momentum. The Xixia Army had never seen this kind of fighting method. The fear came from the unknown. After several days of fighting, they did not even cut off the head of an enemy.
, even the most determined and tough Mongolian athletes could not help but feel frightened.
The Xixia army retreated under the cover of night, and the Ming army did not pursue them. They just sent some power parafoils and threw some bombs on the heads of these unlucky children, urging them to run away quickly.
In this battle, more than 10,000 enemy troops were annihilated, hundreds of horses were captured, and countless weapons and equipment were captured. The most important thing was that the enemy's arrogance was completely defeated. The panic naturally spread from those defeated troops to the entire Huibu area and even Xixia. It was said that more than 10,000 troops were captured.
Then the invincible Xue army was defeated so miserably, one can imagine what will happen next.
But Liu Ziguang did not order an immediate departure. Instead, he stood by and waited for supplies. In fact, he was sweating these days. If this battle was fought with the Manchus, the winner would be decided on the first day, but Xixia
They have been struggling for several days. If they continue like this, they will run out of ammunition and coal. Without the support of advanced firearms and tanks, the Red Shirt Army, relying only on bayonets and bows and arrows, may not be able to survive a few rounds in front of the Xue Army.
, it is precisely because of this that Liu Ziguang resorted to the poisoning trick, using the poison developed by Huangshi Zhenren to destroy an oasis, and used ammunition without hesitation in the battle, giving the enemy the illusion of sufficient ammunition. This forced him to
Withdrew Gulummu.
The Red Shirt Army spent a lot of money in fighting. The artillery shells they used were transported from the Liguo Iron Works across thousands of rivers and mountains. The coal burned by the steam chariots was white coal from Shanxi. The canned military rations were products from the Shanghai Meilin Food Factory. On average, every time the army advanced,
Miles and miles spent tens of thousands of dollars. This is the army in the industrial era. Although it costs a lot, its combat effectiveness is more powerful. Facing the kings of the cold weapon era like Qixue Army, the Red Shirt Army can actually fight with almost zero casualties.
The cost is to annihilate ten thousand people on the other side.
The Ningxia desert battle with Hui'an Fort as the core fell in the eyes of Princess Xiangxiang and the Hui tribe from beginning to end. They were completely shocked by this devastating lethality. The Hui tribe's
In the camp, people spent the whole night discussing the Han people's cannons and armored chariots, dreaming of owning such weapons. During the day, the proud Huibu athletes also lowered their bodies and chatted with the red-shirted soldiers, hoping to touch those magical weapons.
cannon.
Huo Lingyao was thinking about something else. The Han people were strong, and her plan to return to her homeland for revenge was not a problem. However, her ideal of founding the country had become elusive. Originally, she had envisioned that after using the power of the Han people to expel the Mongols, she could quickly expand her army.
Strengthen your own army, take advantage of the right location and people, fight against the Han occupying forces, and finally expel them. At the most, you can sign a treaty and pay tribute to thousands of good horses every year. As for the marriage, it is just a delaying tactic. There will naturally be a way to evade it when the time comes.
But judging from the current situation, all this has come to nothing. The Han people are too powerful. As long as they are willing, it is not impossible to forcefully occupy Huibu. In this case, they can only place their hopes on the Han commander-in-chief Liu Ziguang.
Only by convincing him and returning to the army can there be hope of founding the country.
Liu Ziguang's deeds are well-known in the Central Plains, but not many people know about it in the Huibu. Huo Lingyao met Liu Ziguang for the first time and saw that he was so young, so she arbitrarily thought that he was a pretty boy with no real ability. Not only did he have no ability, but he also liked
He flirted with women and made others (Dong Xiaowan) chase him home. It was out of consideration for Liu Ziguang's lust that Huo Lingyao came up with the marriage strategy and used herself as bait in exchange for the Ming army's aid. When Liu Ziguang agreed,
, Huo Lingyao was relieved and even more disdainful of this person.
It wasn't until Liu Ziguang gave Huo Lingyao some education on the principles of steam engines that Princess Xiangxiang had a slight liking for him. She felt that this guy had some skills besides flirting with girls to please little girls. After the Battle of Hui'an Fort,
, the favorable impression was amplified. After all, beauties love heroes since ancient times. Liu Ziguang commanded 3,000 troops to defeat 40,000 Xixia troops. No matter who comments on this kind of achievement, they can only give a thumbs up and cannot say a word "no".
Huo Lingyao, like other Hui people, liked the weapons of the Han people and was also very interested in their troop formation and command strategies, so she always went to Liu Ziguang's handsome account every now and then. Liu Ziguang always took the trouble to answer her questions.
He asked her all kinds of childish questions, and even asked her to eat canned fruit and wash her face with water. In this desert where supplies are scarce, nothing can seduce a greedy and beauty-loving little girl more than delicious snacks and clear face wash water.
, so even though she still deliberately kept a precaution in her heart, the ice in the little girl's heart had actually begun to melt.
The Red Shirt Army's artillery shells and coal were almost exhausted, so they stopped waiting for supplies at the front line of Hui'an Fort. In just a few days, Huo Lingyao ran to Liu Ziguang's tent dozens of times, each time with a bag in his pocket.
Snacks, came back with a clean and white face. Whenever he saw this scene, Meng Dan was so angry that he gritted his teeth. People who returned to the headquarters would see Meng Dan inviting Princess Xiangxiang to an empty tent.
Then there was the sound of tables being smashed and benches being smashed, and eventually someone would walk out of the tent angrily.
In the eyes of the Hui people, Princess Xiangxiang and Mengdan were originally a match made in heaven. They were the golden girls of Huijiang. If not for the war, they might have gotten married long ago. Now, Mengdan is close to the Han people because of Princess Xiangxiang.
It is understandable to be angry, but Princess Xiangxiang also has her own reasons for what she did. She put herself in prison in order to return to the army. Going to the Han general every day must be just an excuse. Meng Dan should understand at this time.
Rather than blaming.
Princess Xiangxiang was very aggrieved. She only went to Liu Ziguang every day to ask for some scientific knowledge and the principles of hot weapon warfare. There was no flirting with me or anything like that. However, it changed the taste in Meng Dan's mouth, saying that she was greedy for glory and wealth and forgot to reply.
Huo Lingyao also had a stubborn temper and refused to defend himself, which made Meng Dan even more angry. Dozens of young men who supported him were also very angry. They threatened to pull out the team to work alone and return to the headquarters with only 300 people.
The team is also facing a split.
Everything that happened in the Huibu camp reached Liu Ziguang's ears in detail. He just smiled sinisterly and disrupted the unity of the Huibu camp. Wasn't that his purpose?
A few days later, the artillery shells and food supplies arrived, and the army finally set up camp. After half a month of construction, the formerly lonely Hui'an Fort had turned into a large city with dozens of loess rammed fortresses and three trenches.
From then on, it will gradually evolve into an important transfer station on the road from the Hetao area to Guanzhong.