Chapter 1642 What do these southern Tang barbarians want to do?
When Lieutenant General Dai Yaxin said this, everyone was stunned at first, and many people looked thoughtful!
But they didn't know why Dai Yaxin said that for a while!
At this time, Lieutenant General Dai Yaxin directly drew a big circle with a pencil on the map: "Let's go here, it happens to be about five kilometers southwest of us, not far!"
Everyone looked at it and saw that although it was just a simple military map, they could tell with basic terrain markings that the place where Dai Ya's new mark was located was a small lake with small rivers on the east and west sides of the lake and several small hills nearby!
The area of this lake is actually very small, only more than ten square kilometers. The nearby river is not big, only five or six meters wide and one or two meters deep. About a few hundred meters to the west of the river is a small hill, which is not high and raised.
It's only a few dozen meters.
In normal times, no one would go to this poor place, and it is not a strategic point. There is no point in guarding it. If the army chooses to garrison or defend somewhere, it will definitely choose better terrain, and
This is not a place where defensive positions can barely be deployed.
But now, this terrain has given everyone hope.
Because here, the First Cavalry Corps can build positions for defensive operations, allowing the First Cavalry Corps to protect itself.
At this time, Major General Deng Weifang said with speculation: "Your Excellency, you want to go here and then defend for several days, waiting for reinforcements?"
Lieutenant General Dai Yaxin nodded slightly and said: "I have sent out messengers to urgently ask for help from the Second Cavalry Army and the Western Expedition Headquarters!"
"The Tatars can stop our First Cavalry Army from withdrawing eastward, but they cannot stop our messenger troops from withdrawing!" Dai Yaxin continued: "And to be safe, at least twenty generals were sent out in two directions.
Each group of messengers has two cavalry, and each cavalry is equipped with ten good horses."
"Even if the Tatars are very capable, they can't stop our messengers from returning!"
Dai Yaxin pointed at the simple military map spread on the ammunition box and said: "When the Second Cavalry Army receives the news, it will only take them four days at most to arrive. At the same time, the Western Expeditionary Army Headquarters should also be able to stop the troops.
Source, it will take longer, but ten days is enough.”
"At that time, do you think the Tatars will run or not? Even if they want to run, they will have to ask me whether the First Cavalry Corps will agree!"
When Lieutenant General Dai Yaxin spoke slowly, his tone was full of confidence.
Upon hearing this, everyone else deduced it in their minds, and then they all came to a conclusion!
Maybe, this time we can trap all the 30,000 to 40,000 Tatar cavalrymen.
After all, the First Cavalry Army did not fight alone. The Tang Army in the direction of the Caspian Sea numbered hundreds of thousands, and there were three cavalry corps!
Although the newly established Third Cavalry Corps is weak, with less than 10,000 cavalry, and has been stationed in the rear for a long time, the First Cavalry Corps and the Second Cavalry Corps combined have more than 40,000 cavalry.
This force is no less than the Tatar cavalry, not to mention that it can be reinforced by the Third Cavalry Corps and some divisional cavalry in the rear.
As for the artillery and infantry, just ignore this. Although the infantry and artillery of the Tang Dynasty are strong, they are basically useless on the Central Asian battlefield except for building railways, protecting railways, and maintaining logistics lines.
After all, two legs can’t run as fast as four legs…
No, it should be said that two legs cannot run more than a dozen legs!
Regardless of whether it is the Tang cavalry or the Tatar cavalry, each cavalry is equipped with at least one horse and two horses, while the main cavalry is more often equipped with three horses.
Even some of the Tatars' elite cavalry, or even one cavalryman, went into battle with four, five or more horses.
After all, a cavalryman has at least a dozen legs...
How could the infantry outrun him?
However, if we only count the cavalry, the number of cavalry in the Western Expedition of the Tang Army in the direction of the Caspian Sea in Central Asia will not be less than that of the Tatar cavalry. The three cavalry corps added up to almost 50,000 field cavalry.
However, it will take time for these three cavalry corps to assemble, and it will also take time for the second cavalry corps and the third cavalry corps in the rear to arrive.
During this period of time, the First Cavalry Corps was quite dangerous.
Wulihan would not wait foolishly. It was not unknown that the Tang Army was followed by tens of thousands of cavalry reinforcements. As long as the First Cavalry Army stopped and waited for reinforcements, he would immediately lead the main force to attack.
A cavalry battle is not a positional battle between infantry and artillery. It takes three or four days, and the winner can be decided in a few hours at most.
If the First Cavalry Corps escapes, whether it is heading north or west, he will follow him. If he runs away like this, the Second Cavalry Corps and other units behind him will be even less able to catch up.
How does Dai Yaxin prepare to spend these critical days?
The solution he gave was to station in the nameless lake and then build fortifications on the spot!
He wanted to use the First Cavalry Army, a famous and highly decorated field cavalry unit in the Tang Empire, as infantry and artillery!
To be honest, when he proposed this plan, many generals of the First Cavalry Army were skeptical, or even unhappy.
Because in this way, the First Cavalry Army chose to fight in a way that it was not good at.
So soon a colonel raised concerns: "If we build a position for defensive operations, will there be any problems? After all, we haven't done that much!"
The colonel is right!
Since the First Cavalry Corps was established and had this official designation, the First Cavalry Corps has never fought any dismounted infantry battles, let alone any defensive battles.
The fighting method of the First Cavalry Corps is always to charge again and again!
The saber is their only weapon, and charging on the wall is their belief.
But today, Lieutenant General Dai Yaxin wanted to lead them to dismount and engage in foot combat, which made them a little confused!
It's not that they don't want to fight like this, or that they want to fight to the death, but they are really not good at this.
If it's the divisional cavalry in an infantry division, it's okay to do this. Many divisional cavalry units only engage in dismounted infantry combat when they're not doing reconnaissance.
In terms of the quantity and quality of their horses, they cannot afford to mount a wall-mounted charge.
However, their First Cavalry Corps has never played before!
Although I have trained and practiced, I have never played it in actual combat.
So they are worried!
But Lieutenant General Dai Yaxin has already made up his mind!
This time, not only does he want to protect himself, he also wants to make a big profit!
He had no plans to take the initiative to withdraw his troops and return eastward, nor did he plan to lead 20,000 people and more than 40,000 Tatar cavalry in a head-on duel or breakout.
If you do this, the outcome may not be good. The Tatars' 40,000 soldiers are not vegetarians.
Even if they could rush through, they would probably suffer a lot of casualties.
Once the losses were too heavy, the First Cavalry Corps would be crippled, which was a result he could not accept.
So, he changed his mind.
Think of yourself as cavalry and artillery and play positional warfare with the Tatars.
My own First Cavalry Corps is not good at this, but the Tatar cavalry is even less good at this!
If my First Cavalry Corps has engaged in positional warfare in training and exercises, it is estimated that those Tatars have never been exposed to gun positional warfare in their lives.
If the Tatars still want to severely damage their own troops, they must attack, and they must launch an attack in a short time or even a general attack. Otherwise, after three or four days, when the reinforcements of the Second Cavalry Corps come up, they will fall
A state of being flanked from both sides.
Of course, there are other possibilities.
For example, the Tatars did not attack and simply chose to withdraw their troops.
This means that tens of thousands of troops from both sides ran on the grassland for several days, and in the end they did not even meet anyone, and each went back to his own home.
At the same time, they may also choose to attack as soon as possible, but only attack for a day or two, and if they cannot attack, they will withdraw immediately. In this case, the First Cavalry Army can only choose to follow.
It is impossible to directly run out to intercept. There are too few troops to stop them, and our own side will suffer heavy casualties. It is better to launch an attack to the east now.
After this is followed, there will probably be no further results.
But the worst thing about these circumstances is that it is impossible to achieve any results. However, the First Cavalry Army itself can be saved. With luck, some Tatar cavalry may still be left.
If the Tatars are stupid and they are very lucky, they may be able to completely retain the main force of the Tatar cavalry.
After Lieutenant General Dai Yaxin made his choice, although he had a few words of explanation with his generals, and others also raised different opinions and concerns, Lieutenant General Dai Yaxin was firm in his determination and directly issued the order.
Soon, the assembled First Cavalry Corps turned around and headed southwest.
Naturally, this move was promptly informed by the Tatar reconnaissance cavalry, and then by Ulihan and other Tatar generals.
Wulihan gave the order in time: "They are not trying to run away, but they are trying to bite back. Let Buzgede in the south be careful and hold on tight. I will be there soon!"
After saying this, he faced his generals and the 30,000 troops behind him who were almost all over the mountains and plains. He mustered up his strength and said: "This time, we must let those Southern Tang barbarians know that this grassland is not theirs to come to. Since
When you come, you have to leave your life behind!"
When everyone heard Wulihan's words, everyone became excited.
Over the years, they were oppressed by the Tang Dynasty and lost every battle. They retreated from the Hetao in the early years to the Western Regions and then to Central Asia.
Now it seems that even Central Asia cannot be saved.
If the resentment towards Datang in my heart is released, it will be enough to break through the sky!
Now, seeing that there is an opportunity to severely damage or even completely annihilate a cavalry army of the Southern Tang Barbarians, there is no reason not to be excited and joyful in my heart.
They could not wait to chase them now, charge with their swords, and kill all the barbarians of the Southern Tang Dynasty to release the pain they had felt over the years.
But just as they turned around and headed southwest, it didn't take long for Wulihan to get news of the reconnaissance cavalry again!
The barbarians of the Southern Tang Dynasty did not go to find the Wanqi under Buzgede at all. Instead, they took a direct detour to the southwest and stopped at a place. Not only did they stop, but they were also digging fortifications and building positions.
Hearing this, Ulihan and the other Tatar generals all looked puzzled!
What do these Southern Tang barbarians want to do?
Don't think that Wulihan doesn't know that he is the first cavalry army of the Southern Tang Barbarians, the leading cavalry force among the Southern Tang Barbarians, and a master of charge and fighting.
Such a group of elite field cavalry dismounted to dig fortifications and engage in positional warfare?