Zheng Kaicheng looked at the Tatar cavalry on the horizon with his binoculars and frowned.
There are about 15,000 Tatars, and they all look like horse soldiers. In order to delay the Northern Expedition, the Tatars spent a lot of money and sent their most elite horse soldiers to carry out harassment tasks. These horse soldiers were skilled in bows and horses, and they came and went like flying.
The Polu divisions who were transporting food and fodder were always under pressure.
These horseback soldiers are no match for Zheng Kaicheng's 10,000 Polu division riflemen. What is really difficult to deal with is the maneuverability of these horseback soldiers. These horseback soldiers have taken off two layers of heavy armor at this time, and have far higher
The mobility of the Polu Division constantly harassed the Polu Division.
The Polu Division was constantly being harassed by the Tatar cavalry, and it would take another fifteen days to get food and fodder to the front line.
The 34,000 soldiers and horses on the front line have been waiting for Zheng Kaicheng's food supplies. They are lying in the Sachahei area and are unable to advance. If Zheng Kaicheng's food has to be on the road for another fifteen days, the progress of the entire Northern Expedition will be delayed by another fifteen days.
sky.
And this is just a simple grain transportation. I don’t know how many times this kind of grain transportation will be carried out in the future. If the Tatars are entangled like this every time, then when will the Northern Expedition be carried out?
It is now early July, and there are still three months before the bitter north wind in October. If the Northern Expedition is delayed until October with no results, then the Duke's army will have to turn back south, all the way back to Jinzhou.
In fact, the gentry Jiangbei Army in the south was also attacking Shandong, and the Northern Expeditionary Army really didn't have much time.
Zheng Kaicheng was meditating there when he heard a desolate conch horn sounding in the distance. Then suddenly a large cloud of smoke and dust rose in the distance, and the rolling hooves of more than 10,000 war horses came from the distance.
Zheng Kaicheng waved his hand helplessly, and the Chinese army's trumpet sounded. The 10,000 soldiers of the Polu Division gave up the long snake formation when they were advancing, and instead formed a round formation, holding rifles in hand, protecting all the grain, grass and baggage in the round formation.
middle.
After about twenty minutes, the Tatar cavalry soldiers gradually galloped in from a distance. Seeing the troops of the Polu Division here in neat and clear formations, the cavalry soldiers did not approach the front of the Polu Division. There were more than 10,000 Tatars.
Like a gust of wind, it separated from the front of the Polu Division about a mile and a half away, and went around like the left and right wings of the Polu Division.
The billowing smoke raised by the horses' hooves was like a sandstorm, gradually surrounding the Polu Division from all sides. The Tatars howled loudly as they galloped, and made various provocative sounds on their horses, causing the Tianjin soldiers' adrenaline levels to rise continuously.
The military discipline of the Polu Division was very good. Even after such a provocation, no one fired without permission. The soldiers stood ready in a three-row firing formation, staring at the Tatar cavalry, ready to enter the battle at any time.
Facing the plundering formation of more than 10,000 Tatars, it was impossible not to form a zigzag formation to deal with it. During the march, the Long Snake Formation had weak sides and could be overrun by the cavalry. When faced with the plundering formation of the cavalry, Zheng Kaicheng had to be prepared and prepared.
Once a formation is formed and they move forward with loaded rifles, the marching speed is extremely slow. This is because they have an advantage in strength and do not wear steel armor when engaging the enemy.
Therefore, what the Tatars want is Zheng Kaicheng's strict formation. Once the formation is set up and there is a confrontation, a few hours pass.
The Tatars were hiding a mile away, and the Polu Division was delayed but could not attack the Tatars. Zheng Kaicheng was a little angry and shouted: "Fire the artillery truck!"
With the flag fluttering, the artillerymen of the Polu Division began to twist the mechanism to unload the artillery carriage, and deployed the artillery carriage as quickly as possible.
However, it takes time to unload the cannon from the artillery cart, and these cavalry soldiers are very flexible and good at fighting. As soon as they saw the cannon set up here, the Tatar cavalry immediately shouted from left to right, and came out in the sparsest formation. At the same time, the cavalry galloped out.
, gradually retreating away.
By the time the artillery cart was loaded with shells and aimed at the Tatars on the outside, the Tatars had already hid three miles away.
If they were ordinary infantry soldiers, they might not have such strong battlefield response capabilities. However, when encountering these elite horse armor soldiers, the Polu Division really felt as helpless as a cannon to swat mosquitoes.
Fifty cannons could only shoot Tatars in the distance. After two rounds, the killing effect was very limited, and they probably only killed dozens of Tatars.
With the cannons set up, the Polu division was even more unable to move forward and was pinned to the spot by the Tatars.
Fifteen thousand horse-armored soldiers galloped back and forth around the Polu Division for half an hour. They were probably a little tired, so they sounded the golden sound of retreating troops. More than ten thousand Tatars galloped towards the road they came from like a gust of wind, and gradually disappeared in the
on the horizon.
If the cavalry gallops at full speed, it can move 200 miles in a day and a night. It only takes a day and a half to go from the Tatar-controlled area 300 miles away to the Tamu Guards.
The packhorse can carry several days' worth of dry food and beans, and is extremely maneuverable.
The Tatars' packhorses were hidden in the distance, and the Polu divisions fled as soon as they approached. The Polu divisions were carrying heavy baggage and supplies, and they were unable to pursue them.
All in all, it was really difficult for the Polu division to move with these fifteen thousand vests entangled.
Zheng Kaicheng looked at the Tatar cavalry going away and sighed.
"Come here! Rush to Sacha River Guard quickly and report the situation here to the Duke."
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On the eighth day of July, Li Zhi was silent as he listened to Zheng Kaicheng's soldiers reporting the situation.
The Tatars' hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses are not a problem now. Li Zhi's 44,000 tiger and benign troops can completely defeat them. Now the key issue that determines the success of this Northern Expedition is time.
The original method of gradually advancing the construction of the camp was already very time-consuming. According to this strategy, if everything went well, Li Zhi would be able to resolve the battle in the autumn. However, the Tatars continued to harass Li Zhi's supply line, which further delayed Li Zhi's advance and made it difficult for him to advance.
The war dragged into winter.
When winter comes, Li Zhi's Tianjin soldiers cannot stand the severe cold in the Northeast and have no choice but to withdraw. If they cannot reach Alchuka and annihilate the main Tatar force, the Northern Expedition will be meaningless. Li Zhi retreats, and the Tatars
If hundreds of thousands of people continue to plunder Liaodong, Liaodong will not only fail to bring benefits to Li Zhi, but will also become a quagmire for Li Zhi.
Liaodong, which Li Zhi finally captured, would fall into the hands of the Tatars again.
Supply has become the number one problem that Li Zhi needs to solve.
Seeing Li Zhi's dilemma, Xue Sanku said: "My lord, can we transport grain from the river to the front line?"
Hong Chengchou said: "No. The Nurgan river is very narrow when it reaches this inland area. Our gunboats will be stranded if they come in. If we call in private canoes for transportation, the Tatars will swarm us with small boats, and the canoes have no defense capability at all."
Li Zhi thought for a while and said: "The key to the problem now is that these 15,000 horse-armed soldiers are cunning and tough. If these 10,000 horse-armed soldiers are destroyed, the other Tatars may not be able to continue to harass our grain transportation routes."
Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this.
Zhong Feng asked: "Commander, the Tatar cavalry soldiers saw that our troops were strong and did not come to fight. How can we defeat these cavalry soldiers?"
Li Zhi said: "If you are strong, you will show your weakness, and if you are weak, you will show your strength. As long as we display strong soldiers who look weak, the Tatar cavalry soldiers will definitely be fooled."
