Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1626 Northern Expedition ([-])
As the Minister of the Household Department, it is not uncommon to be summoned by the emperor. Sometimes the emperor may summon him temporarily just because he thinks of something.But today's summons is obviously not the case, because the news of Horqin and Daning was just sent back to the capital this morning, and it was still at noon at this time, Gao Wushi was not at the yamen of the household department, but had dinner at his own house, which was a rest time .

The call during the break is obviously urgent, and today's urgent matter can only be war.Although the Ming Dynasty had all the lords, for the current Holy Majesty, the "Chief Military Advisor" in his mind must be highly pragmatic.

The problem is that now Gao Yushi's mind is muddled, and he is still entangled in the most serious loss of Jinghua in many years.Fortunately, although his mansion is very close to the imperial palace in a straight line, since he can only enter the palace through the Donghua Gate at this time, and it takes a long detour, he still has time to think about how to face the emperor's questions.

However, people are always selfish. Gao Yushi was still a little distracted along the way. He always felt that there was something wrong with the cavalry battle. Then he suddenly discovered the problem: this battle was cavalry against cavalry, which was the same as the original battle between cavalry and cavalry. The "task settings" do not match!
Only then did Gao Yushi realize that when he established the cavalry, he had never actually planned "cavalry against cavalry".In his setting, he wanted to use the French army in Napoleon's period or the Prussian army in Frederick II's period as a model to build a modern firearms army for Ming Dynasty.

Why these two forces?The reason is very simple. The two troops have brilliant records, the time difference (technical level) is not too big, and the leaders are very famous. I have read many related books back then, so it is naturally easier to learn from them.

However, Napoleon's French army is best known for its professional artillery, and Frederick II's Prussian army is best known for its slash tactical infantry.Although the cavalry under both command had many excellent records, but their reputation was always overwhelmed by the stronger ones, so a high level of practical understanding was not enough.

But in the conversation with Liu Xin just now, Gao Yushi himself mentioned Napoleon, which reminded him suddenly that an important reason for Napoleon's defeat in the Battle of Waterloo had a lot to do with the cavalry's misuse of cavalry.

At that time, 5000 French cavalry advanced to a section of the British defense line between the castle of Hougoumont and the farm of La-e-Santes.The horses' hooves trampled each other from time to time, for the ground was wet even in the highest elevations of the lowlands.

Mechoud's cuirassiers held their heads high, their helmets, breastplates, and sabers gleaming in the sun, while Desnott's division of Lancers of the Guards followed close behind.Marshal Ney led the attack with so many cavalry that the space between Hougoumont and La-E-Saint was extremely crowded.It is also important to note that he did not use any infantry or artillery.

On the other hand, the Allied forces (the target of Marshal Ney's attack) were ready to meet the French.In fact, the bombardment of the French army's long-range artillery fire had not affected them much before that.On top of the high ground, the British artillery battered the incoming French cavalry.On the back of the high ground, 20 infantry formations were divided into front and rear rows to strengthen the control range of firepower.Behind the infantry, several brigades of cavalry stood ready to strike.

At that time, the experienced officers in Wellington's army were puzzled by this: Why did the French army use cavalry for a frontal attack?
Facing such a huge battle, the inexperienced British soldiers worried whether they could go back alive.Wellington, appalled at Napoleon's frontal attack instead of nimble outflanking tactics on his flanks, exclaimed, "Damn it, the fellow is just an idiot."

But the fact is that before that, Napoleon had temporarily delegated his command because of his physical discomfort. This attack was Marshal Ney's own claim.

As the French cavalry approached, the Confederate artillery temporarily dropped their guns and retreated to the nearest infantry phalanx.Each phalanx formed a strong barrier composed of bayonets and rifle bullets, enough to destroy any cavalry charge-yes, they used the hollow phalanx.

Intensive bullets were fired in the square, and the French cavalry fell off their horses in pain.The horseshoes in the back row kept tripping over the fallen soldiers in the front row, and they could only wait to die.The once invincible cavalry was torn apart under the blocking, and rushed around the British infantry formation, like waves rushing towards rocks and splashing in all directions.

In addition, as soon as a soldier in the front row of the British army fell, he would be dragged into the square immediately, and the soldiers in the back row would fill his vacancy as quickly as possible.Therefore, although the British army suffered casualties, in comparison, it was much less than Ney's cavalry.

Soon, Napoleon, who was in better health, learned that Ney had led the cavalry to charge the British central front.Napoleon sighed and said: "This (offensive) is an hour early, but since it has happened, we must persevere."

At around [-] o'clock in the afternoon, the Kleeman Cavalry Corps and Guy's Guards Heavy Cavalry Division were ordered to reinforce Ney.More than [-] French cavalry charged again and again, but none of the British phalanx was broken.

Once the French cavalry retreated to the high ground and began to regroup, the British artillery rushed back to position (using those guns that had not been damaged by the French cavalry) to launch another round of shelling on the French army.

In addition, the cavalry led by Earl Ebridge counterattacked the scattered French cavalry from time to time, but with little effect.Of course, not all of the Confederate cavalry took action, and in fact the Duke of Cumberland disobeyed any orders and left the field with his cavalry regiment.

According to the vast majority of military history experts in later generations, if Marshal Ney mobilized multiple arms to fight together, Wellington's infantry formation would become very vulnerable under the attack of intensive artillery fire and bullets.But the three brigades of Rayleigh's Second Army did not arrive until after 05:30.

But they came too late, and the situation of the war could not be reversed.Wellington ambushed Adam's brigade north of Hougoumont Castle, flanking the reinforcements.The French cavalry attack had been completely broken, and Rayleigh's reinforcements had lost 1500 men and had to retreat.Wellington's troops managed to neutralize the last French attack.

To make matters worse, the old Prussian Marshal Blücher's reinforcements had also arrived and fought fiercely with the French army's right-wing Robb's army.For Napoleon, the battle was irreversible at this point, and there was no other way but to retreat.

When Gao Yushi thought about this famous battle, he realized that he might be too demanding.In the past, Jinghua riders usually trained in bandit suppression, and Jinghua's suppression of bandits is like the Mi army fighting Iraq. It has a crushing advantage in terms of equipment, and its record is naturally easy and comfortable.

Just because of the ease of playing, in order to save time, Jinghua cavalry often play the whole game without bringing infantry. This has actually violated the concept of the high-practical "army building" period-infantry, cavalry, and artillery coordinated operations.

Just as some military history experts discussed the wars during the period of Napoleon and Frederick II, it is not appropriate for cavalry to fight the whole field.Under the circumstances of military technology at that time, the cavalry unit was very particular about the timing of its use. It would cause bad things if it was used early, and it would also cause bad things if it was used late. Napoleon said the key to "an hour early".

But this time the "Battle of Qingcheng" is completely different from Gao Yushi's original combat scenario. It is a cavalry duel at night, and no troops other than cavalry participate.Jinghua's most powerful line infantry in the past did not participate in the battle, nor did the artillery of "fighting with nothing".

At this moment, Gao Wushi even suspects that if it is not for the "new weapon" that the Chahar Mongolian army may not have expected, the grenade, this battle may be lost directly.

He couldn't help being a little vigilant, and thought to himself: Have I also started to focus on weapons, and even become careless about tactics?
But after thinking about it, the opponents faced by the French army and the Prussian army are also multi-armed operations, which is different from the Chahar Mongolian army I faced. They are not fighting a nomadic army, so there is no need to worry about the opponent's constant circles. Fight by yourself, and I can't ignore this!

The fact that the Chahar Mongolian Army does not have the upper hand when the infantry, cavalry, and artillery cooperate to fight together has been proved in the Battle of Southern Liaoning and the Battle of Northern Liaoning. With Brihatu by Tumen's side, this situation will happen again Surely I won't take the bait, so don't I still have to use cavalry to chase them down?
When Gao Wushi, who was full of entanglements, arrived at Dongnuan Pavilion, he heard Zhu Yijun's voice as soon as he entered the door: "Looking at you, I'm afraid you didn't expect the north to be like this this time, right?"

Gao Wushi knew from his tone that the eunuchs had all been sent out, but he still bowed first.Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said, "There's no need to be too polite, let's talk about the business first... This battle has been fought like it is now, what should we do next?"

Gao Wushi said: "That depends on what the emperor wants to achieve."

Zhu Yijun tilted his head slightly, and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"The most direct purpose of the imperial court's dispatch of troops before was to prevent Horqin from being completely subdued by Tumen, and the second-level goal was to ensure the safety of Yehe. If we look at these two goals, we have actually achieved it now."

"Does this mean that the goal has been achieved?" Zhu Yijun's eyes widened, and he said in displeasure, "Tumed was dispatched by the imperial court to send troops to help in the battle, and now he has lost more than ten thousand and he is a descendant of King Shunyi; Xiao Ruxun sent troops to repel the Tumen. And use this to win over Horqin, now Tumen didn't go to Horqin at all, only Abadai Saiyin's people, and as a result, Horqin also lost a lot.

Pragmatically, if we just end this battle with the current record, the prestige established by the imperial court over the years will be greatly damaged, if not collapsed. This is not in line with the previous expectations of our monarchs and ministers! "

Gao Wushi nodded and said: "Yes, but what I said just now has a premise. If you look at it according to the minimum requirements, the two basic goals have indeed been achieved. As for what the emperor said, it is a matter of prestige."

Zhu Yijun waved his hand resolutely: "It can't be done like this. Tumed is the object of the imperial court's northern expedition. If this battle only goes to this level, let it go. In the future, if we want to mobilize them so easily, even if Erdemutu They are your disciples, I don't think they will be so easy to talk about. Tumote is like this, and so is Horqin."

"Then we can only increase the target's expectation." Gao Yushi said: "But raising the target's expectation also depends on how high the emperor's expectation is, whether it is to restore the number of kills, or just to repel the Tumen, or... "

"Or? What if I think these two points are still not enough?" Zhu Yijun said: "Although the imperial court has not completed all the preparations for the Northern Expedition, I think the Tumen are not ready to deal with the imperial court's full-scale attack. Let me ask you , if the imperial court launches a decisive battle in Chahar, taking advantage of Tumed and Horqin's grudge against Tumen...can they win?"

Gao Wushi was a little surprised by this question. He didn't know why the emperor suddenly became so radical. After thinking about it, he had to think that he was also influenced by the court's "victorious battles" a few years ago, and began to look down on Chahar subconsciously. So much so that he can't tolerate any mistakes when facing Chahar.

However, Gao Wushi still couldn't help objecting to taking the opportunity to launch the decisive battle in Chahar, saying: "This matter is not easy to handle. Now Xiao Ruxun is still in Horqin. Although Abadai Saiyin's strength is not as good as ours, Xiao Ruxun and his allies They and Horqin still couldn't catch him,

This means that after the imperial court launched a full-scale northern expedition, the east and west battlefields were separated. Even if ministers were sent to take charge of the war, it might be difficult to coordinate in the end. "

Zhu Yijun frowned and said, "Why do you say they are separated?"

"Judging from the opponents Tumen chose this time, he may not have planned to use this as an actual plan," Gao Wushi shook his head and said, "I think the reason why Tumen and Brihatu followed Tumot and Horqin The fundamental purpose of the fight is to use this to damage the prestige of my court and make Tumed and Horqin reconsider whether to follow our Ming Dynasty to the end.

But in the following battles, Chahar unexpectedly gained an advantage. On the western front, he successfully ambushed Tumed, and on the eastern front, Abadai Saiyin faced us with inferior forces, and even achieved some victories.In this regard, even if the imperial court sends troops immediately, Tumen can take it easy and take it easy.

For example, the imperial court can send a large army north to Daning to rescue Tumed, but Tumen and Burihatu can also encircle the point to fight for aid. Even once the imperial court sends troops, they can also take the initiative to go south to find the enemy and try to defeat the official army one by one. To prove that its soldiers are elite and capable of leading the army. "

Zhu Yijun snorted softly: "What if I don't split up and attack in this way? First, gather all the troops that can be mobilized in one place, and then whether it is the western or eastern front, won't our army have an absolute advantage? As long as we solve the problem One line, will the other line be far away?"
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(End of this chapter)