Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1050 1045 [Knocked the Western Liao commander silly]

The real elite troops of Western Liao only numbered over a thousand stationed in Gaochang.

Because the main force must stay in Husihan'er, control the capital area of ​​Western Liao, and deter more distant areas. Only when it is determined that a decisive battle will these elite troops be used as the core, and local men or noble troops will be drawn to go to war together.

Some elite troops of Western Liao were also stationed in the Hezhong area, and the soldiers and civilians who escaped from Western Xia were also settled there.

These main forces are not on the front line at the moment!

Therefore, Xiao Chala Abu's mission was to use the strong city to delay the Ming army and wait for the main force of Western Liao to come for support.

Relying on the various strongholds in the mountains and valleys to buy time, Xiao Cha La Abu had already gathered more than 30,000 soldiers and horses.

Among them, there were 300 Khitan heavy cavalry and more than 800 elite Khitan infantry and cavalry; 300 Uighur heavy cavalry and more than 4000 elite Uighur infantry and cavalry.

There were also more than 28000 infantry and cavalry from various ethnic groups in the former Gaochang. The composition of these troops was extremely complex, including Uighurs, Khitans, and Tibetans. Their religious beliefs were also varied, including Nestorianism, Buddhism, Islam, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, etc. Moreover, their combat effectiveness was rather worrying, and some soldiers were actually no more than civilians.

There were even more Gaochang nobles who came with their troops from their respective territories, and it was estimated that in the end they could gather an army of 40,000 to 50,000.

Relying on these troops, it should be no problem to delay the arrival of the main force of Western Liao for reinforcements.

Xiao Chala Abu also planned to defend to the death at the beginning, but Wu Jie, the vanguard general, actually led his troops alone to a depth of more than a hundred miles away from Yizhou (Hami).

Deceiving too much!

When the reconnaissance cavalry confirmed Wu Jie's troop strength, Xiao Chalabu decisively sent troops, determined to wipe out this isolated Ming army.

A cavalry general came galloping over and reported the reconnaissance situation: "Prime Minister, the enemy troops in the southeast have retreated and have all withdrawn to defend the mountain pass. Their cavalry is also being suppressed and cannot come out, so it is impossible for them to rush over here to support the battlefield."

Xiao Cha La nodded unsatisfiedly: "Very good, first eat up this Ming army, then go and take back Shankou Village!"

Today's Western Liao still uses the North and South Court system.

Those who followed Yelu Dashi westward, including the Han people in the north, the Xixia refugees, and the Islamic natives in the capital area, were all under the governance of the Western Liao Northern Court.

The rest are under the governance of the South Court.

Xiao Wulila served as prime minister and Xiao Chalaabu served as deputy prime minister.

At this moment, not only Xiao Chala Abu came to the battlefield in person, but Privy Councilor Yelu Songshan also came.

About 22000 Western Liao infantry were divided into three armies, the left, the center and the right, and advanced slowly. 10000 light and medium armored cavalry were placed on the two wings, and 800 heavy cavalry hid behind the center army.

They wanted to take advantage of the fact that Wu Jie had just arrived the day before and had not yet established a firm foothold and launch an all-out attack.

Wu Jie set up his camp on a gentle slope, which was originally a beacon tower of the Western Liao Dynasty. A small river flowed slowly below the slope.

The creek was extremely shallow, with gravel on the bottom, so it was possible to cross it on horseback, and it could not serve as a battle barrier.

Auxiliary troops and civilian laborers have built a basic camp and protected the remaining little food, fodder, livestock and baggage in the camp.

If there are vacancies in combat troops due to casualties, brave men will be selected from the auxiliary troops to temporarily fill the vacancies.

Wu Jie picked up the telescope, observed carefully for a while, and asked the three generals around him: "How is it?"

Infantry General Wang Jun said: "The infantry of the left and right armies were not even in formation when they advanced. I guess they were recruited from somewhere. This kind of army is not much stronger than the former Song army. They were defeated by my soldiers in a few attacks. Only the infantry of the central army are all elite."

Yang Zheng, the cavalry general, said: "The enemy cavalry are strong and weak, and many of them don't even wear light armor. According to the information sent back by spies in recent years, it is estimated that they come from the grasslands north of Tianshan Mountain, and they are urgently recruited from there. But behind the enemy's central army formation, there are some unarmored cavalry. They are not wearing armor before the battle, and their war horses are extremely majestic. There are also auxiliary soldiers following them. Those hundreds of cavalry must be the heavy cavalry of Western Liao."

Standing on the hillside and observing the battlefield with a telescope, one could even see clearly whether the war horses were majestic or not. This was really too lame to use in ancient wars.

Of course, a telescope is something that cannot be hidden for a long time.

At this moment, Xiao Chala Abuye was holding a telescope, carefully observing the movements of the Ming army camp. He asked a merchant to buy this telescope from the Ming Dynasty at a high price, and then asked a craftsman to study, imitate and upgrade it.

Li Siping, the chariot commander, said: "My chariot battalion can defeat the enemy's elite central army in an instant."

"Then let's go to battle!" Wu Jie said with a smile.

Five thousand versus thirty-three thousand, the advantage is on my side!
Although the official and unofficial records of Yu Dayou's famous battle, the "Anyinbao Victory", vary, three points can be confirmed:
First, Yu Dayou's military strength did not exceed 5000 (the most outrageous record said there were only a few hundred people); second, the enemy had at least tens of thousands of cavalry (the largest record was Mongolian cavalry); third, Yu Dayou defeated the enemy with a smaller force and pursued the enemy fiercely.

Wu Jie's chariot is slightly different in appearance and configuration from Yu Dayou's, but overall its long-range firepower is slightly weaker.

Yu Dayou was so crazy that each tank was equipped with five artillery pieces - three Francois cannons and two Yongzhu cannons.

Wu Jie was only equipped with three French cannons.

Several gates of the village slowly opened, and first eight hundred cavalrymen poured out, advancing dozens of steps to patrol and guard.

Afterwards, the wheeled chariots placed behind the camp at the foot of the slope were pushed out of the camp through various troop exits.

A chariot has five drivers, two of whom are helmsmen and observers, and the remaining three are responsible for pushing the chariot and serving as artillery assistants. There are also two small wheelbarrows behind the chariot, each with two drivers and artillery assistants, and the vehicles are loaded with sub-barrels and ammunition.

There are also the commander and the deputy commander, who also serve as musketeers. There are also three free musketeers, which makes a total of five musketeers including the two commanders.

The remaining 6 people were all gunners and assistant gunners.

By the way, there were several spears inserted in the front and sides of each chariot to guard against the attacks of enemy cavalry, and shields were also installed to guard against enemy bows and arrows.

The above 20 people belong to the chariot team, and there are 15 cold weapon soldiers behind the chariot.

The 15-man combat team includes sword and shield soldiers, spearmen, halberd soldiers, and long swordmen... In defense, they are responsible for killing scattered enemies rushing through the hail of bullets. In offense, they are responsible for charging the enemy's main formation that has been disrupted by gunfire.

what?
Do the chariots need to be connected together to form a formation?
Do we need to place chevaux de frise and caltrops around the chariot?

None of that is necessary, it will hinder my chariot's charge!
"Are those wheelbarrows loaded with the legendary cannons?" Xiao Chalaabu was puzzled as he held up the telescope.

Yelu Songshan reminded: "Don't underestimate the enemy. After all, the Ming Dynasty destroyed the Jurchen barbarians. The Ming army in front of us, even if there are only a few thousand of them, should not be underestimated. We can first send the tribal cavalry from the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains to try. They have few armors and come and go like the wind. Even if they are defeated, they can evacuate quickly."

Xiao Chalaa did not listen to the advice. Those Tianshan grassland tribal cavalry were conquered by Yelu Dashi before he annexed the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate.

Many of them belonged to the Khitan tribe, which was also Yelu Dashi's base at that time.

But now its effect has weakened, so it doesn’t matter if some of them die.

However, they saw thousands of grassland cavalrymen begin to encircle the two wings of the Ming army. Seeing that the Ming cavalry did not move out, but hid in the chariot formation, they became bolder and divided into dozens of teams to prepare for rounds of charge and test.

The Ming army's chariots were arranged in a standard hollow formation, with Wu Jie and his personal soldiers and cavalry located in the center of the hollow formation.

A small team of grassland cavalry consisting of dozens of riders rushed towards the chariot formation first.

Several tank commanders facing them raised flags, indicating that their tank groups were about to engage in battle.

The chief and deputy helmsman, who was also the artillery observer, was now carefully observing the approaching cavalry.

The main and deputy gunners of each tank were ready to fire at any time, while the other seven drivers who were also assistant gunners, some picked up the sub-barrels and prepared to hand them out, while others squatted on the ground and were ready to reload at any time.

"About two hundred steps (300 meters)." shouted the helmsman and observer.

The captain held a copper whistle in his mouth, a flintlock in his left hand, and a small flag in his right hand.

"Shut up!"

Whistles blew and flags waved.

The chief and deputy gunners operated the gun to fire. After a shell was fired, the sub-barrel was immediately taken out. The driver and artillery assistant next to him instantly handed over another sub-barrel. This sub-barrel was installed, the gun was ignited again, and the sub-barrel was replaced again.

The first three shells were all fired in just 20 seconds. The fourth shell took a little longer because the assistant who handed the barrel was standing farther away.

The five musketeers, including the commander and deputy commander, did not raise their guns to shoot at the moment. They reserved close range shooting for the remaining enemies that rushed to the vicinity. Of course, if there were too many charging enemies, they would also choose to shoot from a distance.

Each of these tanks had three guns, and each gun fired several shells in rapid succession. In an instant, the shells seemed to be overwhelming.

The cavalrymen in the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains had never seen such a scene, and the survivors were so frightened that they abandoned the dead and fled while they were still more than a hundred steps away.

Xiao Chala Abu, Yelu Songshan and other Western Liao generals were staring in amazement while holding their telescopes.

Yelu Songshan said: "I finally understand how the Jurchen barbarians were destroyed."

Xiao Chala Abu said in horror: "Those Xixia soldiers who fled here did not say that our country has such artillery vehicles."

"Maybe it has only appeared in recent years." Yelu Songshan guessed.

The Western Liao infantry had completely stopped advancing, and the Western Liao cavalry also hid far away and dared not come over.

The battlefield fell into a stalemate, but the Ming army sent out some light cavalry.

These light cavalrymen actually ran out with scoop nets in their hands, picked up the iron bullets on the ground, and half-dragged them back to the chariot formation to deliver them to the artillerymen.

The shells of the small Francois cannon are actually very light.

Xiao Chalaa did not see this and said to Yelu Songshan: "The Ming army may have limited artillery, so we can let the tribal cavalry spread out more to consume all the Ming army's artillery. Then we can advance the infantry formation and eat up all the Ming army in front of us."

Soon, the grassland cavalry returned.

This time, there were twenty riders in a team, and the distance between the riders was seven or eight meters.

The Ming army's chariot commanders were too lazy to care about such a sparse cavalry formation. Only when the enemy cavalry rushed within a few dozen steps did the Ming army's flintlock musketeers fire freely.

Horse bows and muskets were shooting against each other.

The grassland cavalry left behind some corpses and fled again. Their horse archery could not even cause slight damage to the Ming army. The arrow shield in front of the chariot was even covered with leather, and the power of the horse bow was like a tickle.

Yelu Songshan sighed: "Let's retreat to Yizhou City and hold on until reinforcements arrive. We can also abandon Yizhou City at a critical moment. These Ming troops are full of thorns and we can't take them down at all. We don't have many elite troops now, and most of them are temporarily recruited men. They will easily fall apart if a real fight breaks out."

Xiao Chala Abu was worried: "If we can't even fight with several thousand vanguard troops, how can we face the main force of the Ming army? Even if the elite troops of the Liao Dynasty come to reinforce, even if we repel the main force of the Ming army, we will inevitably suffer heavy losses. Without the late emperor to deter the tribes, once too many elite troops of the Liao Dynasty are killed or wounded, those nobles who believe in the Desert Religion will be ready to move."

"That's why we have to be cautious and not lose the battle here," Yelu Songshan said. "Let's withdraw our troops slowly. It will be hard for the enemy's chariots to catch up with us. We can retreat back to Yizhou City calmly. If the enemy dares to catch up with us, we will send out all the cavalry to disrupt their chariot formation and take the opportunity to counterattack with the whole army!"

Xiao Cha La'a did not think this was a good idea, and ordered the entire army to lure the enemy to retreat while observing the specific reaction of the Ming army.

If Western Liao dared to lure the enemy to retreat, Wu Jie would really dare to pursue them.

Even though the Western Liao infantry formation was still intact and was just slowly retreating, Wu Jie still commanded the entire army to chase after them!

This time the hollow formation became the Queyue formation, and the drivers slung the noose over their shoulders and pushed the chariots forward to pursue slowly. The cold weapon infantry and cavalry followed in the Queyue formation at all times.

Xiao Chala Abu was overjoyed and ordered all the cavalry to attack quickly, bypass the rear of the Queyue formation and attack. At the very least, when the Ming army changed its defense formation, the cavalry should be used to disrupt the chariot formation.

This kind of light chariot formation is actually very sparsely spaced. With 120 chariots forming a Queyue formation, the width of the battlefield is nearly two miles.

The enemy cavalry came from a long way around, and by the time they got to the rear, the Queyue formation had already changed into a hollow circle formation. Moreover, after forming a circle formation, they slightly adjusted and rested, and actually continued to advance in a circle formation, with all the chariots in the rear facing away from the enemy cavalry that had come around.

As the circle advanced, it was naturally impossible to maintain order, and the chariots in various places appeared to be scattered and chaotic.

Xiao Chala Abu personally stood on the tower car and saw it clearly through the telescope. He thought that the Ming army's chariot formation was in chaos, so he immediately ordered the flags to be raised and the horns to be blown, so that the cavalry who had already circled behind could charge with all their strength.

The chariot can turn very quickly. To be on the safe side, the cold weapon infantry has already gone out to defend and ensure that the chariot, which is facing away from the enemy, turns to the front.

So what if the traffic is uneven?
That's called stacking formation!

On the contrary, it is the offensive posture of this light chariot battalion.

When the light chariot battalion launched an attack, they would advance in a wave-like staggered manner, and no matter whether you were cavalry or infantry, they would force you to defeat them directly from the front.

It is very simple to break this kind of chariot formation by using a large number of "dead soldiers" to withstand its terrifying firepower.

When the Manchus first encountered the Korean musketeers, they experienced the beauty of the dead soldiers tactic. They had the cavalrymen ride two horses each, and they would chop the empty horses with their swords, causing the horses to go crazy with pain, and forcefully break through the Korean musketeers' barricades. If the empty horses could not charge, they would charge with both the men and the horses. Although the horses were afraid of death, they would just chop them crazy and it would work.

This dead soldier tactic resulted in more defeats than victories when used against the Ming army, so shield-chariot soldiers were invented to serve as dead soldiers.

The shield cart could not stop the close-range attack of small-caliber artillery, let alone large-caliber artillery. The main function of the shield cart was to block the Ming army's artillery shells and musket bullets, which were the Ming army's main killing weapons.

A light tank battalion like Yu Dayou's could not stop the advance of the shield-carrying soldiers.

Even if you kill all the shield chariot soldiers, the Qing follow-up troops are approaching.

After suffering losses, the Ming army improved its chariot formation again.

For example, Sun Chengzong's ultimate formation had ten layers of hollow chariots inside and outside, and the Qing Dynasty's shield chariots and dead soldiers were simply not enough to consume them. However, this formation was too cumbersome and slow, with more defense than offense, and it needed to be coordinated with a large number of cavalry.

However, the elite cavalry of the Ming army had already developed their own consciousness, and ordinary civilian commanders could not command them at all.

At this moment, the Western Liao cavalry was charging forward.

Since it took time for the chariots at the rear to turn, the Western Liao cavalry had already safely rushed to within a few dozen steps.

With the cavalry charging at full speed, at such a close distance, they could reach the front of the battle in an instant.

"Boom boom boom!"

Hundreds of small cannons fired in succession, and the enemy cavalry that rushed within thirty or forty steps suddenly fell down in large numbers.

The fired shells have changed!
Before Wu Jie gave the order to attack, the entire army rested for a while.

It was at that moment that all the gun barrels were replaced with iron-bead-like shotgun shells, which scattered like flowers from the sky within a few dozen steps.

This thing was often used during the Age of Exploration, not to bombard enemy ships, but to use shotgun shells to bombard the decks at close range. Countless shotgun shells were fired at the decks, killing a large number of enemy sailors and crews.

But the enemy cavalry still rushed too close, and subsequent cavalry continued to come.

The firing rate of the Franco-German cannon was too fast. The first three shots took less than 10 seconds on average, and the subsequent firing rate was around 15 seconds.

Sub-barrels were replaced one after another, and shotgun shells flew out one after another.

The musketeers were also shooting at the enemy cavalry who were about ten or twenty paces away.

All the soldiers jumped over the chariots, using all kinds of cold weapons. Some soldiers even wielded long swords to chop the horses' legs, knocking the scattered enemy cavalry who were forced to slow down to the ground.

Some enemy cavalry even crashed headfirst into the long spears mounted on the chariots.

Within a few dozen steps outside the chariot, corpses could be seen everywhere.

The Franco-Liao machine guns were still firing rapidly, but the Western Liao cavalry could no longer charge, and the survivors fled the battlefield in terror.

Wu Jie said: "Send the order, stay where you are, cool the barrels, and collect the shells."

Xiao Chala Abu, on the other hand, had a dazed look on his face. He swallowed his saliva involuntarily and gave an order with difficulty: "The entire army will move closer to the fortress, rely on the fortress to form a defensive formation, and take turns crossing the river to retreat to Yizhou City!"

(End of this chapter)