After the bloody battle in Jiyang, the East China Sea bandits recruited more veterans from Jin'an to join their band. On the surface, they were still pirates, but in fact they had completed their transformation from a ragtag group to an elite division.
From Song Jia's mouth, Lin Fu knew that this was a strategy proposed by Qin Zitan, a counselor around She Feihu. He used frequent invasions and wars to consume all the original mobs and replenish the elite soldiers loyal to the She family. This not only facilitated the control of the She family
The East China Sea bandits must be transformed into elite soldiers in a short period of time.
Although this strategy is cruel, it is very effective. Qin Zitan also encouraged Taihu pirates to invade Xisha Island, causing heavy losses to the army and civilians. When they captured Du Rong in Meixi Lake, they missed the big fish Qin Zitan. Lin
Thinking about it now, I feel a pity.
Lin Fu and Cao Ziang stood on the garrison platform and watched Liu Zhenzhi personally lead his armored soldiers to attack the bandits on the river embankment.
The Yunyan River has been in disrepair for many years, and the river embankments are almost as flat as the outer beaches. There is no terrain convenience in occupying the river embankments. However, the enemy soldiers have a tight array of bows, crossbows, swords, and guns. They are not afraid of fighting and do not rush forward. They rely on the warships on the river.
Using crossbows and crossbows to support them, the infantry of Jiangdong's left army were kept pinned under the embankment. Finally, Zhou Pu lost his temper and made two groups of cavalry charge into each other from both wings under the rain of arrows.
The cavalry all wore armor and could block arrows. Even if they were hit by an arrow sideways, it would not be a critical injury. However, the more than a hundred horses rushing from the flanks had no cover and were all exposed to the enemy's crossbows.
"To shoot the man first, shoot the horse; to capture the thief first, capture the king." To put it bluntly, the most profound tactics are just some very simple principles.
Here, the infantry is used for head-on confrontation, and the cavalry is used to attack the flanks of the enemy soldiers to achieve the purpose of crushing the blow; the enemy soldiers also need to take advantage of the cooperation of bows and crossbows on the ships to prevent the cavalry from attacking the flanks of the enemy soldiers' array on the river embankment, and mainly
This was done by shooting the horses to break up the cavalry formation, preventing a powerful flank attack.
The cavalry battalion brought out by Zhou Pu was capable of fighting tough battles. The bandits on the river embankment handed over their flanks to the bandit ships behind them for cover. Once the cavalry approached from the flanks without fear of arrow stones, the formation was immediately defeated. Liu Zhenzhi led his troops from the embankment.
The soldiers also used their strength to press more than two hundred soldiers into the river and drove them down the river.
The result of the battle was just like this. The Japanese soldiers had boats to support them, and as they watched the Japanese soldiers being driven down the river from the embankment, the Japanese boats quickly approached the embankment and used close-range fire to cover the Japanese soldiers who fell into the water. Neither the cavalry nor the soldiers here could last long.
It is necessary to occupy the river embankment and shoot the bandits who fall into the water, and even to quickly break away from the contact after defeating the river embankment bandits to avoid unnecessary casualties.
Although the first battle was won with few casualties, the horses that attacked from the flank suffered heavy losses. Few of the more than one hundred horses that entered the battle missed an arrow, and at that moment there were thirty or forty horses that were dying.
In the end, Lin Fu only brought back 800 foreign horses from the Yannan battlefield, and rarely added any more. It can even be said that horses are more valuable than people, and if one of them dies, one will be lost.
The cavalry camp was used like this, and the horses were lost so seriously. Lin Fu felt heartbroken watching it from the garrison, but there was no way. The first battle was about morale, and it couldn't be solved cleanly. It couldn't be solved by dragging it until dark, but it would make the Kou soldiers make a sudden advance.
Courage in the hinterland of Chongzhou will bring greater risks.
War has always consumed resources. Ge Siyu, a man who did not know much about military affairs, was also heartbroken over the loss of war horses. There were only 800 horses in the cavalry camp. He was afraid that when the war was over, there would not be many horses left.
At any rate, they won. During the battle, the cavalry tied dozens of corpses with ropes and dragged them down the river embankment. The owl's head was hung on the flagpole in front of the garrison to show off to the public, which greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers and civilians inside and outside the garrison.
Lin Fu and Cao Ziang went down to the garrison to visit the injured generals. At this time, they could not care about the horses: war is like this, and after this war, even if all the horses are used up, there will be no surprise.
The Jiangdong Left Army had just established its foundation in Chongzhou and had almost no savings and could not withstand heavy expenditures. This was the main reason why Lin Fu did not want to fight a big battle with the Donghai bandits in Chongzhou.
"To drive the East China Sea bandits overseas, can we first raise a group of war horses in the pasture?" Cao Ziang asked in a low voice.
"That's fine." Lin Fu nodded.
Even with Song Xiaobo's cooperation, Lin Fu could not publicly reclaim the land under the jurisdiction of Hecheng Pasture on a large scale, but using prisoners to herd mules and horses within the Hecheng Pasture was a feasible strategy, and the action was not so obvious.
Lin Fu knew very well that he did not have many resources to raise cavalry. In his plan, he might use the cavalry to attack the flanks in a roundabout way or form a reserve force, but the infantry was always the decisive force on the frontal battlefield.
Cao Zi'ang, Zhou Pu, Wu Qi, even Fu Qinghe, Qin Chengzu and others all preferred cavalry. Lin Fu also considered that even if the Jiangdong Left Army did not use cavalry as the main force, it would still need some cavalry for flank maneuvers, reconnaissance, and messengers.
Jiangmen will mainly raise ordinary mules and horses and farm cattle. After all, Chongzhou's land fertility must be fully utilized to accumulate resources. Animal power is an extremely important indicator. However, if conditions permit, Jiangmen can indeed introduce well-bred horses.
First, shepherd a group of war horses.
For war horses, it is better to start as young horses and then graze them on pasture for two years before being put into service in the riding camp.
Dai Viet is the source of lost horses. It does not mean that there are no stallions with excellent bloodlines in the Central Plains. The Central Plains is full of fertile farmland. Where are there large pastures to raise horses? It does not mean that horse breeders use soybean feed to raise horses in captivity.
The horse administration of war horses is definitely not good, but the cost of raising horses is too high. One thousand horses will consume the wealth of a top county, which is no longer what the court can afford.
"The Japanese soldiers seem to have no intention of retreating," Zhou Pu walked over with riding boots. He was not very satisfied with the results of the battle just now. He knew in his heart that Jiangdong's left army could not afford to fight at this time. After all, its foundation was still shallow. Apart from foreign enemies,
Yue Lengqiu and other political opponents were also eyeing the Jiangdong Left Army, waiting for the strength of the Jiangdong Left Army to be weakened by the large-scale battle. Zhou Pu clapped his fingers and pointed to the middle of the river in the distance, "If the pirate ships don't retreat before dark, it will be very difficult for them to retreat."
The confrontation may continue to intensify. We are still unable to blockade the north bank. Once the main force of our infantry is contained near the garrison on the south bank, the enemy soldiers will use warships to cut off the river, but the infantry can advance westward along the north bank..."
"In order for the Japanese soldiers to achieve this step, they must have an absolute advantage over us in terms of military strength..." Liu Zhenzhi was not afraid of the stage and expressed his own opinions.
"In the early morning, the Donghai bandits raided Hecheng Military Fortress with 2,000 soldiers, and then attacked the sentry fort in the north in various directions. I think the Donghai bandits did not expect how easily Hecheng Military Fortress could be captured at first, so they adopted
The strategy of dividing the troops to attack in order to create momentum and exhaust our army is actually a strategy that has no intention of fighting with our army at all," Cao Zi'ang said, "But since the Hecheng military fortress was captured, especially when the Donghai bandits returned
If we want to make a big splash on the northern front, it is natural to concentrate our troops at Hecheng Military Fortress. There will not be only two thousand soldiers gathered here. If we compare the troops, there is really no way for us to have an advantage..."
"Yes, you can't beat the bandits hard. They always try to advance westward." Lin Fu sighed. Before the provocation, the East China Sea bandits gathered tens of thousands of soldiers on the northern front on the Shengsi Islands.
In terms of military strength, She Feixiong wants Quan Ciqing to raise troops to counterattack Changguo Island. He must continue to move the center of gravity of the northern line's troops northward in order to eliminate Quan Ciqing's wariness and make him take the bait. Chongzhou will face increasing pressure.
In the battle just now, fifty or sixty soldiers were killed, which could not make the general who was secretly in charge of the She family feel heartbroken at all.
"Should we mobilize some warships?" Cao Ziang asked.
"..." Lin Fu shook his head and said, "The Jinghai camp must be used intensively so that the soldiers can feel the pressure of being isolated from their back roads. Besides, this is not a good battlefield for water battles. If we just block the river,
Otherwise, we can sink a few ships in the middle of the river, but it still won't solve the crisis that the bandits will rush westward when they have the upper hand. We need to hit them hard and effectively annihilate a thousand to two thousand of them.
Thousands of people, they will huddle in Hecheng Military Fortress and not come out. Later, they can use the Jinghaihai Camp to go out to sea and block the route between Hecheng and Shengsi Islands, thus forcing the invaders to withdraw from Hecheng Military Fortress.
Eliminate the invisible scourge of war.”
"Then wait for Zhou Tong to come over and discuss it carefully. He has a lot of clever ideas." Zhou Pu said. The pirate soldiers they encountered were not just a mob. When they had the advantage of warships, they could annihilate one or two thousand soldiers by normal means.
People will also have to pay a considerable price here. Once the price is too high, the strength of the left army in Jiangdong will be weakened. Not only will it not be able to stop the invaders, but it will also induce the invaders to advance westward on a larger scale.
Lin Fu walked up the river embankment and stared at the sparkling river water flowing eastward. Although Chongzhou's terrain was low, the Yan River was diverted from Hongzepu to the west, and the water from Gaoyou Lake was taken from the Huai River and flowed east into the sea. He carefully observed the distance.
After watching the enemy ship for a long time, he suddenly turned around and walked towards Ge Siyu and asked him: "You are allowed to mobilize all the manpower and completely block the river with earth and rocks. How long will it take at the fastest?"
"That's not difficult," Ge Siyu said. He squatted down, picked up a branch and counted in the mud. "If we can prepare in advance and just seal the river, one hour will be enough."
The Yan River is only a hundred steps wide, and autumn is already deep. The water coming upstream has begun to decrease, and the water is not strong. It is not difficult to block the river. Ge Siyu has been preparing for the dredging of the Yan River during this period. Various data are in his mind.
They all have a spectrum.
"Then beat him here," Lin Fu uttered a curse word and made up his mind resolutely, "Zi'ang, you and Si Yu go to Jiuhua. One night is enough to make preparations to block the river. Jiuhua is in Baidu."
Inside and outside, the enemy's sentinels cannot penetrate that far, so I will personally take charge here."
"It's not in a hurry for a day or two..." Cao Zi'ang said. He came here with Lin Fu. He originally planned for him to stay and take charge of the overall situation, so that Lin Fu could go back and get married tomorrow, so that the wedding would not be delayed due to the war. At this time, Lin Fu
They ordered him to go to Jiuhua and stayed here to take charge personally, which was contrary to his original intention of following him.
"They are desperate. As long as the stars and moon are bright enough tonight, the enemy soldiers will definitely intensify the confrontation," Lin Fu pointed at the enemy ships in the distance that were adjusting their deployment, and said, "Look at them, they are obviously summarizing the river just now.
The flank formation of the embankment taught me a lesson about the cavalry's defeat. Several flat-top boats were connected to each other and docked closely to the river bank, and connected with the river embankment using pallets to form a platform that was easy to enter and exit. As long as the number of soldiers ashore was not large, we could quickly
Retreat to the ship to prevent the flanks from being forced to break through. If there are many soldiers ashore, these platforms can also build effective flank positions to prevent our cavalry infantry from breaking through from the flanks..."
"The opponent is a character who knows a lot about military affairs..." Cao Zi'ang sighed. Most of the pirate ships were not connected together and wandered along the river, so it was inconvenient for them to attack with fire.
"The She family and Li Zhuo have been fighting fiercely in Eastern Fujian for ten years. There are many elite soldiers and many outstanding generals. Without this capital, the She family wants to conquer the world, and they are afraid that the world will laugh at them," Lin Fu said
, "This is also the reason why She Fei Xiong dares to divide his troops to lure the enemy."