Chapter 241 Ice and snow cover the mouth of Liaohe River
The Ming army held a military meeting at the Beiguan Great Wall in Kaiyuan, and Zhu Youxiao set the tone first. This time was a favorable opportunity for the Ming army to fight a decisive battle.
"Our army has been on the campaign for more than a month, and the results so far are good, but from an overall perspective, it is only a small success, because the main force of the slave establishment that disrupted the entire Liaodong is still there. Some people in the army may think that we can just accept it when it is good. Such a mood
When can we defeat Jiannu?"
Zhu Youxiao looked at Qi Jin, the gray-haired but energetic deputy general of the Beijing Military Police Regiment: "Old General Qi, do you think that in the event of a decisive battle, which place is more conducive to the use of firearms and infantry?"
Qi Jin replied: "I think Nurhaci wants to lead our army to the plains to fight. After all, they are all cavalry. They can move in very quickly on the plains. And if we want him to fight in the mountainous areas we have planned, I will definitely not do it."
Dare to fight in the unfamiliar Tieling and mountainous areas west of Qinghe.
The beaches along the Liao River are covered with wild grasses and are relatively wide. It is the battlefield favored by the Jiannu cavalry. The undeveloped plains and highlands are full of miscellaneous trees, bushes, and thorns. It is difficult for Hou Jin's horses to enter, and they will not enter.
.
Only the basin where the Liao River turns south is suitable as a battlefield. Two years ago, it was still cultivated land with only dead grass and no trees. Jiannu also liked to go there.
The hillside on the north bank of the Liaohe River is suitable for musket shooting, and the hillside is suitable for artillery. I think General Chen Ce and General Zhang Mingshi should have inspected the specific artillery layout in advance."
Chen Ce is the commander-in-chief of the Sichuan Army, actually a general of Guangdong, and is now sixty-nine years old. At that time, he followed Chen Li, Deng Zilong and Yi Sun-shin of Goryeo to participate in the Battle of Luliang, and achieved a small victory against the Japanese and Warring States fierce general Shimazu Yoshihiro.
It was wrong for me to still fight for Xiao Ming at such a young age. I am not known for being good at water warfare and firearms, and I still have relationships with the generals in the army.
After Zhao led the teachings, he was not a famous general in the Zhejiang Army and was known for his good use of firearms. Together with Qi Jin, he was a general who responded to Xiong Tingbi and suppressed the rebellion in the capital. Now he serves as a staff general in the Beijing Army Expeditionary Corps and is responsible for the Shenji Battalion of the expeditionary corps.
Shi Wei'e said: "Currently, the Tieling Fortress has not been besieged. I have given my ancestors a short life order. No matter what, they must leave the city and defend to the death. Are there any refugees or people in the fortress? Tolerance, screening, precautions, and careful work, and sufficient food.
This fortress, which I personally participated in the design of, is enough to hold off the enemy for a long time."
This made Zhang Mingshi, Zhu Youxiao and others worry that they must worry too much about themselves on the southern front and be annihilated by the enemy.
Shi Wei'e then asked: "General Chen, General Zhang, how about Qinghekou as a battlefield?"
The Jiannu must retreat from the southern pass and cannot go up to harass the Jiannu garrison. This battle must be close to the decisive battle area to avoid being entangled by the enemy's small army. Instead, sufficient support must be given to Tieling and Shenyang."
Xiong Tingbi smiled and said: "That time it was mainly defensive. Defending the mouth of Qinghe River and the north bank of Liaohe River was not an initial failure. When the Qianjin Dynasty was exhausted, they retreated and attacked us violently.
The two of us had few guns and artillery under our command. On the way to Horqin through Kaiyuan, we had already explored which places in the surrounding area were suitable for the use of firearms.
Xiong Tingbi pointed to the mouth of the Qinghe River under the sand table and said: "That place is where you will pass one and a half months later. It is very close to Nurhaci's encirclement. At least seven enemy banners are already in that area.
Just as the small army was about to set off, Zhang Quan received a message from a scout sent by Zhu Youxiao: The red flag chasing us had returned from Kaiyuan via a small road. It is estimated that Nurhachi was concentrating his troops and preparing for a decisive battle.
Zhao Lijiao replied: "Is there any other place around that I can't replace? The ice surface of the Liao River is not as narrow as 700 paces. The cavalry can shoot arrows at a slow speed. At least the cavalry of Jiannu has little mobility in that place."
Xiong Tingbi also sent a message to Shi Wei'e and Wang Zheng, asking us to send a glider to Bastion City again to observe the situation of Tieling Fortress.
Tieling is the key way back, so Zhang Mingshi and Zhu Youxiao should wait to join the battle first, not to ensure that something will happen to Tieling.
Then Shi Wei'e ordered General Chen Ce to cut down trees and build shacks. The shacks were all covered with snow to prevent the enemy from setting fire to rockets. A snow wall must be built behind the shack to cover it with water.
You must rush to Qinghekou within two days, then build fortifications with snow and place the artillery in place according to the plans of several veteran generals."
Jiannu's shield vehicles mainly focus on attacking Qinghekou. Your army should deploy half of the small general cannons at Qinghekou to attack the shield vehicles. There can also be as many French cannons on the front and sides.
In order to prevent the enemy from using telescopes to observe your army's defenses, traces on the snow need to be removed, but it is difficult to restore them to their original appearance.
Shi Wei analyzed: "Your army's defensive position is located on the north bank of the Liao River. Jiannu's cavalry is slow to attack under the ice, so it is suitable for defensive counterattacks."
Zhao led the teaching: "Whether it is a small general cannon or a Folang machine cannon, which can only shoot upward or horizontally, it should be placed at the foot of the mountain. Under the mountain, it can only hit close areas. Although that place is the most ideal battlefield, it is far away. There is no more suitable place, so we can only use Qinghekou as the battlefield."
You will retreat from Nurhachi's encirclement, and still let Qian Jin come and fight.
After discussing the map, we found that the focus of the enemy's retreat must be at Qinghekou and the plain to the west of Qinghekou, and they would definitely push their shield carts down the hillside.
Xiong Tingbi asked the veteran general Ming Army to make additional adjustments. Before everyone unanimously refused, he chose the decisive battle location at the mouth of the Qinghe River, where the Qinghe River flows into the Liaohe River.
The enemy's archery is useful, as are rockets, and your military use of shotguns and firecrackers gradually consumes the enemy. Small cannons used to hit shield vehicles, iron bullets, stone bullets, and shotguns can all kill and injure the enemy. Of course, you must also save your energy to prepare for a decisive battle."
Arranging the artillery in place is a complicated matter. The Folang machine can be carried away with its twin and mother cannons. The iron core and copper body of the small cannon weigh about 1,700 kilograms. With the wooden frame, iron hoops and wooden wheels, the weight slows down to 2,000 kilograms.
Xiong Tingbi told Zhu Youxiao:
It was really God's blessing. Maybe God also saw that it was the burning, killing and looting of the slaves. It snowed after the war. The traces of damage that had not been cleaned up in the next few days were all covered by the wind and snow of several days.
Shi Wei'e was preparing to go south to join the war and asked for instructions.
What you have to do is to pile up a snow wall with snow, melt the snow and pour it to freeze under the snow wall, so that Qian Jin’s arrows can hit the defending soldiers. The enemy’s only way is not to retreat, because your army has no shelter to keep warm. The shack is covered with snow, and there is no ice and snow wall behind it.
You haven't cut off contact with the enemy yet, and Nurhaci still knows the specific location of your army.
At that time, everyone hoped for a light snowfall to avoid exposing any traces.
Xiong Tingbi: "General Zhang, how should your army deploy its defensive artillery at Qinghekou?"
Half of the small guns, French cannons, and squatting cannons are arranged on the east hillside. There are no trees on the sunny slope here, and it can be ignored even if it is a steep slope.
"We should go south from Kaiyuan to the outside of the mountain to the west of the Tieling Corridor, and then arrive at the south side of the mountain to monitor Jian Nu. We must make sure that Jian Nu climbs the east hillside and takes Chen Ce's path without blocking it, and contacts Chen Ce on the east hillside.
At that time, mules and donkeys were in use, and there were no oxen-drawn cannons to walk outside in the one-foot-deep snow. Since there was no road, of course, artificial assistance was needed. Two days ago, the cannon was finally in place.
Generals such as Qin Liangyu, Ming Jun, Tong Zhongkui, etc. all asked for battle, willing to be the vanguard in the battle against Jiannu.