Chapter 613 Rivers of blood and thousands of bones withered
There were fighting everywhere for dozens of miles in Zhangqiu.
Bolo led more than 10,000 troops and finally rushed eighty miles to Zhangqiu. However, he received a blow in the head and had to escape again to break out of the encirclement.
But how could the Ming army let them come and leave whenever they wanted?
The soldiers in the imperial camps in each town have been holding back their energy for a long time, just waiting to eat meat. Although fighting is dangerous, the rewards are rich. From the generals to the soldiers, even the auxiliary soldiers are not willing to miss this opportunity.
The reward for killing a Tatar is thirty taels of silver, and for capturing a war horse, the reward is ten taels of silver.
The armor, swords, guns and gunpowder seized were all rewarded with silver.
To put it bluntly, even if you are injured, you can still get some money. If you are unfortunately killed in battle, you will also get three years of salary pension plus ten taels of funeral expenses. Calculating it to a small amount of 200 yuan, if you have an old mother, a widow, and young children, you can still have another month.
Receive a monthly ration.
They all came from the troubled times in Chongzhen these years. Human life is worthless.
It's a big deal that if you lose your life and reincarnate again, the opportunity to make money is gone, but it's really gone.
Besides, this battle is about beating a drowned dog.
If you pick up something cheap, can you still miss it?
Bolo was chased like a lost dog. He was also known as the famous king of the clan. He fought all the way to Hangzhou City back then, but he had never fought a battle like this.
There are more than 10,000 soldiers, even though many of them are old and young, and even armored slaves, they used to fight the Ming army like this, but they were invincible.
The Ming army attacked like crazy. I have never seen such a ferocious Ming army.
Moreover, the equipment of the Ming army was actually better than theirs.
Especially firearms, which can shoot fast, far, and accurately.
Even the cavalry were equipped with muskets, which were self-generating muskets that did not require a match rope. They were much shorter than ordinary bird muskets and could be loaded on horseback. They rushed up like the wind, fired a musket at them, and then turned around.
Reload, pursue again, shoot again, and then leave again.
Bolo led people to the rear, and his subordinates were all elites, forming a cavalry formation. As a result, they could not get any benefit from these guys, and they were always disrupted from a distance.
They responded with bows and arrows, but they were far inferior to their muskets.
Sometimes they could fire three shots at a time, one long and two short. When they got closer, they fired three shots, which even the lead bullets and cotton armor couldn't withstand. They used bows and arrows to fight back, but most of their damage was blocked by the cotton armor.
They hit and run, reloading from a distance. Many of the knights' eyes were red with excitement, and they pursued them regardless of orders. As a result, the lineup was scattered, and those who pursued them were often surrounded, and there was a burst of gunfire.
, most of those who go out never come back.
Bolo could only fight and retreat, but these cloaked hussars relied on their muskets to move far and fast, and hung like flies from behind, constantly harassing and shooting, killing and wounding.
What's even worse is that from time to time, a group of light cavalry wielding sabers rush out. With their light swords and fast horses, they approach like the wind. Anyone who falls behind will be attacked by them, and then they run away like the wind.
.
From time to time, a group of breastplate musketeers appeared blocking the road. These musketeers had different fighting styles from the cloaked musketeers. They always rushed close, jumped off their horses, formed a musket formation, and fired volleys and muskets at them continuously, with intensive firepower.
, keeping up with their thick breastplates and bayonets, you can't take advantage if you want to charge, and you can't escape if you want to escape.
There were also lancers who cooperated with these dismounted cavalry, charging with their lances pointed and shouting, and they ran directly into them.
As soon as you are entangled, infantrymen with muskets will arrive from nowhere. They will stand still and attack you in rows with their muskets.
Along the way, there were corpses of the Eight Banners everywhere.
The Qing army was already discouraged.
No morale.
They just wanted to run towards Jinan, but they were tired and exhausted, and their horses couldn't run anymore. Especially those Eight Banners and convoys who followed without horses were even worse.
Manqi simply gave up on them, escaped around them, and abandoned them on the road, allowing the Ming army to surround, divide, and massacre them.
Bolo had been beaten so much that he lost his will to fight. He ran around and ran to the back, unable to muster any courage.
He looked back from time to time, looking at the battlefield behind him, at those fellow tribesmen who were being overtaken and surrounded and making desperate resistance. He knew that he had lost, and he was so confused.
He regretted that he should not have left Jinan City.
He regretted leaving the city so easily without collecting more information. The Ming army had so many troops ambushing them here. If he had been more cautious, he should have been able to discover them.
He didn't even know if he could escape back to Jinan.
The crackling sound of muskets sounded behind them, and another cavalryman rushed over.
However, no one in the full cavalry turned around to fight. Instead, they kicked the horse's belly hard to speed up their escape.
Faced with an unwinnable battle, no one wants to look back.
Zhao Xiaolou chased for a while, tripped, fell to the ground, and could not get up. He felt that his body was hollowed out, his legs were as weak as walking on cotton, he even felt dizzy, his ears were ringing, and his stomach was still churning.
Nausea, his throat felt dry and on fire, and he felt like his head was dizzy and confused.
Captain Li Baoquan helped him up, "Are you injured?"
"I don't know." Zhao Xiaolou responded with difficulty, panting.
At this time, a light rider passed by and gave orders.
Let them return to the camp to assemble and help clean up the battlefield.
Their combat mission is over.
In this battle, the two thousand soldiers of the Shence Town Leftist Association suffered heavy casualties, and the more than three thousand soldiers of the auxiliary camp also suffered many casualties. They used their bodies as bait to withstand the impact of the Tatar forward's three thousand elite cavalry.
They were held off for a long time until Bolo arrived.
In order to avoid alerting the enemy, the ambushes at Lady Mountain and Yuhuang Mountain remained stationary, and Zhangqiu only sent a thousand hussars for reinforcements.
Although in terms of military strength, they were two against one, three thousand against three thousand auxiliaries and three thousand elite Eight Banners, three years ago, no one believed that they could win.
But they won.
When Bolo arrived, they had annihilated more than a thousand Tatars and even killed the leading general Turay.
"Vice Captain Liu doesn't know if he's okay, go back and have a look." Zhao Xiaolou still remembered the injured and comatose Vice President Liu. He admired Vice President Liu very much. He was a scholar. He was with them in the army.
I despise them, so I read newspapers to them every day, teach them how to read, and write letters home to them.
Zhao Xiaolou followed Deputy Liu and recognized hundreds of characters. Although his handwriting was not good, he at least recognized a lot. He was very grateful to Deputy Liu and thought he was a very good person.
Hope he's okay.
Li Baoquan supported him and returned to the camp together. There were corpses everywhere, blood flowed all over the ground, and the land was dyed red. They found the position they had previously guarded.
Auxiliary troops have already begun cleaning the battlefield.
Soldiers wearing Ming army uniforms, especially the wounded soldiers who were still alive, had their arms tied with cloth bands of different colors. The seriously injured were carried away first, and the lightly injured were bandaged and cared for on site.
There were also auxiliary soldiers pushing carts, bravely carrying machetes and axes, and chopping off the heads of Tatars on the battlefield.
Some people are responsible for stripping off clothes and armor, others are responsible for picking up weapons, and there are even military veterinarians checking injured horses on the battlefield, treating those that can be cured, and tying red cloth strips on the ears of horses that cannot be cured.
Subsequent auxiliary soldiers will come over to slaughter the horses, skin them and divide the meat directly. This is important food on the battlefield, and meat is in short supply. It cannot be wasted. If it is summer, it must be given as soon as possible.
Slaughter and clean up to prevent spoilage.
Zhao Xiaolou and the two walked around, but did not see Deputy Liu.
The other three wounded soldiers were also missing.
They pulled out six of their fallen teammates from the pile of dead people. Looking at the bloody faces, Zhao Xiaolou felt extremely sad. They trained together every day, ate together every day, and even slept together, grinding their teeth and spanking.
Such a group of people just disappeared.
He remembered each of them's usual mantras, and even knew about their respective family situations, whether they had parents, whether they had sisters, where they were from, and what their plans were for the future.
But now, he was lying here completely motionless. Even Zhang Tiezhu, the big man who usually complained constantly, was rarely quiet.
Zhao Xiaolou couldn't help crying.
After Li Baoquan checked them one by one, he closed their eyes, then picked up a knife and started to chop off the heads of the Tatars next to him.
This was originally a matter for the auxiliary soldiers. The soldiers did not need to go out of their way to chop off their heads. There would still be corresponding merit records after the war. The imperial camp's beheading merit was now changing to a collective reward, but he still slashed with the sword regardless of fatigue.
, seems to be venting the anger in his heart in this way.
Zhao Xiaolou also silently picked up a Tatar's sword, kicked off the Tatar's helmet, and then slashed with the knife.
······
Zhangqiu City Head.
The emperor always stood under the nine banners.
Although they were more than ten miles apart, everyone in the city knew that the Ming Dynasty had won.
It was a very nice win.
The Tatars were completely defeated. According to this momentum, the Tatars might even be annihilated. After eighty miles, the Tatars had little chance to escape back to Jinan.
Even if Jinan has not yet been surrounded by the Ming army Zhongsu and other towns, not many will be able to escape the pursuit and go back.
Even if Bolo tried his best to escape, as long as a few thousand people didn't escape, it can basically be said that the entire army was wiped out.
"Congratulations to Your Majesty!"
Song Zhifu excitedly congratulated the emperor.
Zhu Yihai watched all this with a calm expression. This battle had been planned for more than a year. Various deductions and calculations had been made in advance, and a lot of preliminary preparations had been made.
Today's battle was actually expected.
Those who are good at fighting have no great achievements.
This battle seems to be about defeating the small with more, and there is nothing eye-catching about the battle. But in fact, the advance planning and advance layout have pushed the odds of victory to an extremely high level before the war.
This is in line with the emperor's military style. He will not take risks unless he has to.
He prefers decisive battles away from the battlefield.
Why is Bolo so weak now? It's the result of him being trapped and harassed for two years. Why he came to Zhangqiu to ambush is because he was pressed hard by the Ming army and had no other way out, so he had to go out of the city to take risks.
Every step was planned by Zhu Yihai.
And Zhu Yihai made countless efforts for every step of this, recruiting the Yuyuan Army, Li Huajing, etc., dispatching fifth columns in Yongcheng and other places, opening up base areas behind enemy lines, and even supporting the rebels in various places, even economically.
The blockade and strikes are all tilting the balance in his favor.
Many people wanted to fight this battle three years ago, but Zhu Yihai endured it because the chance of winning was too low at that time.
He has been holding back until now, almost two years after he moved his capital to Dengzhou, before finally taking action.
"It is better to use your remaining courage to chase down the poor bandits, not to use your reputation as an academic overlord!"
Facing the defeated Tartars and the congratulatory ministers, Zhu Yihai responded with two lines of poetry.
"Instruct Jinwu, Qianniu, and the three towns of Yulin to continue the pursuit. They must pursue them all the way to the gates of Jinan City. They must pursue them relentlessly without giving them any chance to breathe. Don't say that you should not pursue the poor invaders. It is eighty miles from Zhangqiu to Jinan.
Road, I want it to become the burial ground of the Tatars,
This opportunity is rare, we must not let them run away again!"
At present, the morale of the more than 10,000 people in Bolo has fallen to the bottom, especially when they are exhausted. This is the time to beat the drowned dog, and we must not be soft-hearted.
The pursuit was hard, but the Tatar escape was even more tiring.
There is no main Tatar force nearby. Although there are still some Mongolians, Han Eight Banners and Green Camp left behind in Jinan, Zhu Yihai no longer takes them seriously. The Eight Banners of Manchuria collapsed, and Jinan has long been besieged.
The Mongolian and Han soldiers and horses, who had lost their fighting spirit, saw the defeat of Manchuria and were afraid that they would not even dare to leave the city.
Even if they come out, with the power of the Ming army now carrying a great victory, they can still be wiped out.
Moreover, he has already mobilized Zhongsu and other two towns to encircle Jinan, and Shenji Town is coming from behind.
If this Manchurian army can be completely annihilated now, the next battle in Jinan will go very smoothly.
If the Tatar soldiers are allowed to enter Jinan, even if only half of them escape, they will have to fight a difficult battle.
I finally caught it, how could I let it go again?
"Shence Town fought very well, especially the Zuo Xie. They had four camps with two thousand soldiers, but they showed real majesty as warriors. Let them return to Zhangqiu to rest. The Right Xie did not wait for the Tatars on the right wing, so there was no need
If we chase them, let them come back to help clean up the battlefield and hunt down the nearby Tatar troops."
"Hurry up and use the carriage to bring the wounded soldiers back. If you need first aid, quickly set up a tent there to rescue them. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, we must rescue these Ming guards."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Are the medicines and bandages ready?"
"Back to Your Majesty, a stretcher team and a medical team have been prepared in advance. A lot of medicines, gauze, etc. have also been stored. They have all been dispatched now." Chen Qianfu replied.
Zhu Yihai thought for a while, "Forget it, there's no point in sitting here. I'm going to ride over and check it out myself."
"Your Majesty, the battle is not over yet, and it is not safe outside yet. Your Majesty, please stay in the city and take command."
"There is nothing more to command," Zhu Yihai walked directly to the city. The guards hurriedly followed, but the ministers had no choice but to follow.
"You don't need to follow. Just stay here and direct the aftermath." Zhu Yihai refused to let them follow. He took his guards and left the city to the battlefield of Shence Zuoxie in the north.
Zhu Yihai rode on horseback for about ten minutes to reach the Shence Army battlefield.
There was a strong smell of blood here, but Zhu Yihai patrolled the battlefield indifferently. When he saw the emperor arriving, the soldiers, auxiliary soldiers, wounded soldiers, and medical soldiers on the battlefield all saluted the emperor.
"There is no need to kneel down and salute on the battlefield, just do whatever you need to do."
Wen Hu came after hearing the news.
Just as he was about to bow, Zhu Yihai jumped off the horse and grabbed him, "I heard that your kid directly killed the first-class Tatar prince. Is Gu Shan'e really a traitor?"
"He was seeking his own death. He insisted on coming to attack the banner of our army. He also wanted to kill the general and seize the flag. However, he was shot dead with a heavy musket by our guards. After that, he hung it on the flagpole of my banner and surrendered his flag."
"Well done, I should be credited with a great contribution. What are the casualties of your Leftist Association?"
Wen Hu was a little sad, "The casualties were quite heavy, and these Tatars are quite ruthless. Two thousand soldiers under my command were killed in this battle, and almost 800 were seriously injured. Most of the seriously injured were disabled. It is estimated that there are many more that can be saved."
No return."
Zhu Yihai knew that many wounded soldiers on the battlefield often died of wound infection, which was much higher than the mortality rate on the direct battlefield. Many disabled soldiers were not seriously injured in the first place, and had to have their limbs amputated after wound infection.
"The more than 3,000 auxiliary soldiers who participated in the war were reduced by nearly half. We probably killed about 1,000 Tatars here, but we lost at least 3,000. I am ashamed of Your Majesty, two against one, but still
Being beaten into such a coward."
Zhu Yihai patted Wen Hu and said, "After all, this battle is no better than Muling Pass. When you followed Meng Xian to defend Muling Pass, you were defending based on the pass and it was easy to fight. The three thousand Tatars we faced in this battle were all elite and full."
Riding, it is not easy to fight in such a field. You have two thousand infantry soldiers and three thousand elite cavalry. It is very good to be able to fight like this. I can see them all clearly."
This battle was generally fought well, but there were problems. The main problem was the lack of artillery firepower. One artillery battalion only had eight three-pound guns, and each battalion only had smaller Franco machines and tiger squats, which basically could only be used at close range.
shot.
It is necessary to speed up the increase of firepower for each battalion. At least one or two three-pound cannons must be equipped, and the town artillery battalion must be equipped with twelve-pound field cannons.
The weight of the three-pounder cannon will not have much impact on the march of the infantry battalion, but the twelve-pounder field cannon will have an impact. But if we fight such a big battle, field cannons are a must.
This time, the Qing army was ambushed by the four towns. It was not a frontal field battle, but an ambush battle. The Ming army took a lot of advantage.
If the two armies had prepared for a direct confrontation in the field, Zhu Yihai estimated that the casualties would be even greater.
"The soldiers you lose will be replenished immediately from the auxiliary battalion. The soldiers that are lacking in the auxiliary battalion will be replenished from other auxiliary battalions. Priority will be given to replenishing the full strength of your Shence Army."
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty." Wen Hu straightened his body and thanked him.
"You deserve this."
Zhu Yihai inspected the battlefield, and finally arrived at the field hospital. He looked at the wounded soldiers in the tents, and the military doctors sawing their arms and legs there. There was blood everywhere, and he felt very upset.
This is war. No matter how well-prepared the battle is, people will still die, many will be injured, or even end.
In this battle, at least two thousand people will die directly, and in the next half month, about one or two thousand wounded soldiers may die, or even more.
After the battle, three to four thousand auxiliary soldiers were killed, and half of the town was lost.
If a soldier is killed in battle, he will be given three years of military pay as a pension, and another ten taels of burning silver, which is almost two hundred taels. Next, he must be given a share of rations to support the orphans and widows of the martyrs.
The pension cost is seven to eight hundred thousand silver dollars. However, compared to the thousands of imperial soldiers who have been trained for two or three years, Zhu Yihai still cares more about people. Money can be earned, but it will be lost when the person dies.
But the war is so cruel. Once a general is killed, thousands of his bones are withered, and thousands of people are lost in a single battle.
The emperor insisted on staying in the field hospital to help, regardless of the blood and filth. It seemed that only in this way could he be reminded that this was a cruel battle, and every decision must be made cautiously, otherwise blood would flow into rivers and bones would wither.
It wasn't until it was getting late and the last batch of wounded soldiers had been dealt with that the carriage was sent to Zhangqiu City.
Sitting in front of the empty field hospital tent, Zhu Yihai felt a bit tired and exhausted after a busy day, and even more relaxed.
Gong Jin Gongyu of Changxing County, the commander-in-chief of Shence, came on horseback.
"Your Majesty, we have a victory ahead. General Zhang Mingbin of Jinwu Town has killed the famous Tartar King Boluo. Our army has pursued for fifty miles and has wiped out all the Tartars. We have killed more than 3,000 people along the way and captured more than 8,000 people."
"More than 8,000 prisoners?"
Zhu Yihai was surprised when he heard the news. Did so many Tatars surrender? Even though he knew from the intelligence that among the more than 10,000 troops in Boluo, there were many Manchus, old and young, as well as slaves, but more than 8,000 people surrendered.
Still amazing.
This shows that the Tatars are really on their last legs.
"Very good." The emperor took a long time and uttered two words.
Soon, Song Zhipu and others also rushed here to welcome the emperor back to Zhangqiu.
