In June of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Tongzhou.
Watching the soldiers returning from training today, Wu Shigong told Yu Ji and other officers: "You have worked hard along the way. Rest here for two days and recuperate before going to Shanhaiguan!"
"promise!"
This time the Runing army went to Liaodong. Wu Shigong led a cavalry group of 3,500 cavalry, an infantry group of 7,500 people, a personal troop of 1,500 cavalry (the Shoufeng battalion stayed in Runing), and two engineering regiments.
The Qianhe Artillery Corps has a reinforced regiment of 1,500 men. The artillery regiment has been strengthened with six nine-pound cannons and two twelve-pound cannons. The total strength is 16,000 men and horses.
However, the equipment of the Runing Army this time was exaggerated. Including the horses of the Guards, there were more than 5,000 horses and more than 5,000 other mules and horses. There were more than 2,000 vehicles, including more than 3 combat vehicles.
One hundred vehicles, eighty-seven large and small artillery pieces, a cavalry musket for each man, and more than 4,000 infantry, engineer and artillery muskets.
There are more than 3,000 pieces of well-protected plate armor, and 500 more are being stepped up production in Runing, which must be urgently transported before the Runing army leaves the customs. There are also more than 1,000 pieces of second-class iron armor. And each of them has
The soldiers all have at least silk inner armor and an improved beggar's armor modified with cotton armor. There are also more than a thousand sets of felt vests. In addition, there are more than a thousand leather armors equipped with reconnaissance cavalry.
The most critical reason why he decided to go on an expedition was that Wu Shigong did not want to fall out with the court at this time, and wanted to give the court an illusion that he was still obeying its orders. Of course, Wu Shigong also believed that the benefits of this expedition outweighed the disadvantages.
In addition to the safety of his family in the capital and attracting the peasant army to approach and expand the scope of activities of the peasant army, Wu Shigong also believed that the danger of the Runing army's arrival in Liaodong was not great. At this time, the imperial court's military strength in Liaodong had exceeded 23
Thousands of troops capable of mobile field operations, including 134,000 soldiers and horses of the eight major armies, plus 16,000 of the Runing Army, can effectively inflict great damage to the Qing army, and mixed with such a huge army
Among the large armies, the losses of the Runing Army will not be too great.
The only thing worth worrying about is that the imperial court has placed the expeditionary Runing Army in Liaodong for a long time, preventing Wu Shigong from returning to Runing. But Wu Shigong is not afraid of this. The structure of the Runing Army in Runing is already very complete, and without Wu Shigong
, no general can be independent at all. Besides, when the world changes and Wu Shigong takes his army to return to Runing forcibly, which Ming army can stop him? And at that time, it is Wu Shigong who shows his unruly behavior.
The heart no longer matters, but because it is close to the capital, I can quickly rescue my family in the capital.
Of course, Wu Shigong and the senior civil and military officials of the Runing Army had no idea that this battle was the famous Battle of Songjin. Otherwise, absolutely no one would agree to the expedition.
Therefore, according to the characteristics of this expedition, the Runing army deployed its troops in this way. There were more cavalry, more firearms, and more vehicles. This was also the lesson learned from the last battle with the Qing army.
The Ming army's combat goal this time is also very fixed, which is to rescue the besieged Jinzhou. Therefore, the Ming army's exploration cavalry is not very useful. There is no need to check the location of the Qing army. Anyway, the Qing army will definitely appear from Shanhaiguan to Jinzhou.
On the road. Moreover, the Guanning cavalry in Liaodong are familiar with the environment, and the exploratory cavalry dispatched should be dominated by them, so the cavalry of the Runing Army will not fall into a large-scale strangulation battle.
Therefore, the operational thinking of the Runing Army this time is to fight as a team, with the infantry square as the core, the surrounding cavalry and chariots, coupled with the fire support of artillery, to use long-range firearms to kill large groups of cavalry to prevent large groups of Qing cavalry.
Charge and kill. In a word: it is a defensive battle in motion, attracting the Qing army to charge into the formation, and causing a lot of damage to the Qing army.
Of course, if the Qing army did not dare to charge into the formation, the Runing army would have successfully moved to the gates of Jinzhou City. Although it could not kill a large number of Qing troops, the purpose of the campaign was always achieved. Anyway, the Runing army had never thought of passing through this.
In this battle, the Qing army was completely annihilated. In addition, this kind of movement can also prevent being locked by the Qing army's artillery, and prevent the situation of being "ploughed" by the Qing army's general artillery in the Battle of Xueling.
Moreover, this kind of tactics can be advanced and retreated. In case of a major defeat of the Ming army, the Runing army can also rely on the vehicle formation to defend and retreat smoothly. Moreover, the vehicles can also carry a large amount of grain, grass and baggage, which can absorb all the supplies of the Runing army.
It is in their own hands. Therefore, in this expedition sequence of the Runing Army, they specially brought the engineering regiment with them, just to open the way and build bridges during the retreat.
Therefore, the core tactics of the Runing Army this time are defense. They must give full play to the "turtle flow" created by Wu Shigong, which is to preserve themselves to the greatest extent and eliminate all Qing troops who dare to attack them.
Because the focus of the Runing Army was still on Henan and Huguang at this time, those generals had their own strategic goals and could not move lightly. Therefore, Wu Shigong chose Yu Ji, who was second in defensive warfare, as his deputy. To be honest,
That Shu Mo didn't look like a commander. Wu Shigong really didn't trust him to become his deputy. And Yu Ji's defensive warfare level was not much higher than other generals. The reason why he was selected was that besides his relatively high status, who else
How about giving him the nickname "Hedgehog"?
After receiving the imperial edict in April and preparing for the expedition, the Runing Army gathered the troops transferred to prepare for the expedition for a month, and then continued to train defensive tactics along the way. So when they arrived in Tongzhou, the entire army
Wu Shigong has become very familiar with such defensive tactics, and this situation makes Wu Shigong quite satisfied.
The only drawback is that the Runing Army carried too many mules and horses this time, so the pressure on the supply of food and grass was extremely high. Fortunately, Wu Shigong still had friendship with Shandong Governor Yan Jizu and Shandong Commander-in-Chief Liu Zeqing, and they provided supplies along the way.
, the Runing army successfully reached Tongzhou.
Wu Shigong saw that the training of the soldiers along the way was very hard, so he prepared to rest in Tongzhou for two days to recuperate for the war after leaving the customs. Moreover, Wu Shigong also had a personal reason, the personal representative of Emperor Chongzhen - Eunuch Qin
He and Wu Shigong's wife, Xue Yufei, were already waiting in Tongzhou.
As soon as she saw Wu Shigong, Xue Yufei hugged Wu Shigong and cried for a while. She finally calmed down and explained with red eyes: "This time my husband can't see Lin'er again."
"I know! I understand!" Wu Shigong quickly comforted. Emperor Chongzhen was willing to let Xue Yufei meet Wu Shigong, but he would never let Wu Shigong's eldest son Xue Chenglin leave the capital. Wu Shigong was also mentally prepared for this.