Since the Battle of Anping, the Tang troops heading north were divided into three groups, and all progressed very smoothly!
When the fifth mixed regiment marching eastward attacked Jinan, they encountered almost no resistance. Thousands of Ming troops staying in the city immediately chose to surrender. Not only these Ming troops, but also the civilian and military generals in the city,
Most of them chose to surrender on the spot.
And the Qingzhou Prefecture is even more strange. The fifth mixed regiment heading east has not yet reached Qingzhou Prefecture. The local officials and generals have jointly signed a petition, announcing that they will change their clan and be loyal to the glorious and great one, greater than the sun.
Eternal Saint King!
Laizhou and Dengzhou were relatively difficult, especially the local officials in Dengzhou who actually chose to resist. The fifth mixed regiment did not hesitate at all and directly launched a fierce attack. After three days of fierce fighting, they successfully captured Dengcheng.
Fucheng.
As a result, Datang has completely brought the entire Shandong Province under its control!
Immediately, the Fifth Mixed Regiment began to garrison Shandong, suppress the local area, eliminate local defeated troops, and stabilize the rule of the Tang Dynasty here.
The troops heading north to Youzhou are the main force of the Third Army, including the Fifth Infantry Division, the Sixth Infantry Division and some infantry units directly under the division headquarters of the Third Army, such as the Third Cavalry Detachment.
Originally, the Fifth Mixed Regiment was scheduled to go north to Zhili, but now that Shandong has just been captured, the area is still unstable, and there are too many defeated troops in Shandong. They need to be eliminated one by one, otherwise it will cause big trouble.
Therefore, the Fifth Mixed Regiment is still on the Shandong Peninsula, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to enter Beizhili for a while. Therefore, the only troops fighting in Beizhili are still these two infantry divisions.
Although these two infantry divisions are the main force of the Third Army, especially the Fifth Infantry Division, they are the main force. They are currently the well-deserved number one ace in the Tang Army. In the Liangshanji Battle, they only relied on two
The infantry regiment and the troops directly under the division headquarters, baggage, artillery and other troops totaling ten thousand people defeated tens of thousands of Tatar cavalry and took the lives of three thousand Tatar cavalry.
After the Battle of Liangshanji, the 5th Infantry Division continued to guard the rear defense line, and at the same time began to accept new recruits from the rear to supplement losses. After all, in the Battle of Liangshanji, the 5th Infantry Division actually suffered considerable losses, with thousands of people killed and almost as many injured.
Two thousand, the total casualties were roughly the same as those of the Tatar cavalry, both around three thousand.
However, the time left for the Fifth Infantry Division to rest and replenish was relatively short. It only rested in a hurry for a few days, and then after accepting about 2,000 new soldiers, it went straight to Beizhili.
The Sixth Infantry Division also lost more than a thousand men in the Battle of Anping. However, due to difficulties in replenishment and time constraints, the Sixth Infantry Division began to move north without replenishing its troops.
Although the two infantry divisions are currently understaffed, with a shortage of 1,000 men each, and there are still 2,000 new recruits in the 5th Infantry Division, its combat effectiveness has declined compared to before the war.
However, the Ming army was still unable to resist the northward offensive launched by these two forces!
Or to put it more simply, there was no resistance from the Ming army at all!
The remaining Ming troops in many cities along the way either fled or surrendered directly. The main force of the Third Army heading north did not fight a few battles, but the prisoners of war accepted more than 30,000 people. Well, some of them escaped from the Anping Battle.
Some of the Ming troops who came down were local guards. When faced with the Tang army's attack, they would rather surrender than resist.
Those who were unwilling to surrender basically knew that they could not be defeated, so they simply continued to flee north. Where they fled was naturally to Youzhou, which would be the last fortress of the Ming army in the north!
Facing the collapse of the Ming army, Hao Bainian, who led the Third Army, did not rush. He still commanded the troops to follow his own pace. The marching speed was not slow, but it was not a sudden rush. Instead, he maintained a very stable pace.
Rhythm.
The army on the front line keeps advancing, and the supply troops in the rear also keep supplying the troops at all times!
Now that the situation has been decided, there is no need for Hao Bainian to take risks. Even Li Xuan warned Hao Bainian in advance, saying that after winning the war, he should pay attention to the phenomenon of arrogance in the army, not only to maintain the high morale of the troops, but
You must maintain stability, especially when heading north. Don't be in a hurry. Take your time. Youzhou City is to the north and it can't fly away!
If it was delayed for a few days, then the Ming army or Tatar cavalry from other places, such as Liaodong, or simply the Tatars, ran to Youzhou City and strengthened Youzhou's defense, making
If a large number of troops are gathered here.
If this really happens, don't worry, even Li Xuan thinks this is a good opportunity, and takes advantage of this opportunity to deal with them all!
The Ming army that is now scattered all over the north is easy to fight, but it is time-consuming and will have a relatively large impact on the local people's livelihood and economy. If they can be gathered together to fight a decisive battle and annihilate them, Li Xuan would be happy.
As for the Tatar cavalry, this is even more true. With their mobility advantages, these Tatar cavalry can come and leave as they please on the northern plains and even the Mongolian grasslands. If they don't take the initiative to attack, in fact,
For the Tang army, which currently lacks cavalry seriously, it is almost an impossible task to find, catch up with, and annihilate them.
In the end, it is estimated that they will follow the strategy of the early Ming Dynasty, use infantry to stabilize border towns, build cities and colonize, and gradually advance northward to reduce the living space of nomadic cavalry. On the other hand, they will vigorously develop cavalry. Once the cavalry reaches a certain scale, they will take the initiative to kill
Entering the grassland, and this timetable is estimated to take ten years.
If there was a chance to annihilate another group of Tatar cavalry, Li Xuan would be very happy. Unfortunately, Anda Khan was very cunning. After the heavy losses in the Anping Battle, they all ran back to the grassland. In addition to still controlling those border areas,
Outside the town, basically no one has set foot in the Central Plains area.
When the situation in the north was stable, Youzhou City was like a peach. By the time the Tang army reached Youzhou City, the peach would be ripe and just about ready to be picked.
The Third Army fought steadily and continued to advance, but the Fourth Army, which marched westward to Henan, moved much faster. After completing the Anping Battle, the units of the Fourth Army began to assemble, as did an infantry regiment of the Ninth Infantry Division.
After returning, although they, like many troops, did not have time to recruit new soldiers and their strength dropped compared to before the war, this still will not affect the Fourth Army's strategy in Henan!
After the Fourth Army arrived in Henan, it quickly took over the tasks of the Second Army, quickly launched the Battle of Kaifeng, and launched a fierce attack on the defenders of Kaifeng City, while the Second Army began to move south to Runing Prefecture and northern Anhui.
Compared with the Ming army in other places, the Ming army in Kaifeng City resisted very tenaciously. Otherwise, the previous Second Army would not have dragged the Fourth Army forward and failed to capture Kaifeng City.
Although the Ming army in the city does not have much main force, it still has a new army of 8,000. This is a new army trained locally in Henan. In addition, there are a large number of guard troops and young men.
The Ming army officials and generals in the city were also very tenacious. They knew that they were no match for the Tang army in terms of guns and artillery, so they decided to engage in close hand-to-hand combat on the city walls and in the city.
When the Second Army launched its first attack, it seemed to go smoothly. The artillery and muskets completely suppressed the Ming army on the city. However, when the assault battalion boarded the city, they were met with a premeditated attack.
The strangulation of the Ming army!
And it's not the heavy armored infantry of the Ming army, but their firearms troops!
This time, the Ming army in Kaifeng city did not use the musketeers and shotguns as medium and long-range interception firepower like the Ming army in other places when defending the city, but used it as melee assault firepower!
They waited until the assault battalion reached the top of the city, or even entered part of the city near the city wall, before they came out and opened their guns and opened fire. They were killed by volleys of gunshots at a distance of only ten or twenty meters.
But the Ming army also hid those shotguns in the streets and alleys.
Under this salvo of guns and artillery, the second army's assault battalion and an infantry regiment that followed up suffered heavy casualties in an instant. Because the situation was unknown and it was the first time they encountered this tactic, in order to avoid unnecessary casualties,
The Second Army decided to withdraw from the city first, but it would not hand over the occupied city wall.
Just when the Second Army was preparing to change its tactics and launch a second attack, and completely conquer the city, it received a new mission. The Eternal Saint King ordered them to go south. As for the occupation mission of Kaifeng and subsequent Henan Prefecture,
It will be handed over to the Fourth Army.
Therefore, he left Kaifeng unwillingly and handed Kaifeng over to the Fourth Army to solve the problem.
After the Fourth Army arrived in Kaifeng City, they also felt a little headache when they learned about the Ming Army's defensive tactics from the Second Army!
These Ming troops made it clear that they would not fight against the Tang army on the city walls. They even gave up the city walls semi-voluntarily. Instead, they withdrew most of their troops to the city, and then relied on the many buildings and complex terrain in the city to resist.
The goal was not even to defend or recapture a certain building, but to kill and injure Tang soldiers.
The Fourth Army was still a little careless when it first arrived, so that it lost more than 200 people on the first day. This loss was due to the Ming army's firearms ambush from both sides of the street when the troops were advancing in formation.
caused by.
This situation made Fang Xitong, the commander of the Fourth Army, quite angry. Naturally, he could see at a glance what the tactics of these Ming troops were. This was street fighting.
When His Majesty was teaching at the Royal Academy, he emphasized many times that when attacking a certain city, street fighting should be avoided as much as possible. If the battle can be resolved outside the city, it is outside the city. If the battle can be resolved on the top of the city, then it should be on the top of the city.
, unless absolutely necessary, try not to fight with the enemy in urban areas with complex terrain.
Street fighting is quite troublesome for the attacker!
However, Fang Xitong has his own ideas. Your Ming army wants to fight in the streets? OK, I will demolish the city and see how your Ming army continues to fight!