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Chapter 761: Surprise Attack
On July 25, the Warrior Battalion of the Imperial Stables, which had undergone special training in the north of the city for half a year, quietly left their base, changed into the khaki linen clothes of the Transportation Department's engineering team, walked to the outside of Chaoyang Gate and boarded the rail carriage bound for Tianjin South Camp.

Within fifteen days, 3000 soldiers of the Warrior Battalion will gather along the track to Kaiping Zhongtunwei, east of Luanzhou, and then change into army equipment and head north, exit the border wall from Xifengkou, and head north along the Baohe Valley to Fuyuwei.

A day later, 2000 miners, kiln workers, carpenters and bricklayers from the Luanzhou industrial base will follow through the border carrying large amounts of explosives, timber and city-building tools.

They were going to carry out the Fuyuwei city-building plan that Hong Tao and the General Staff had been planning for a long time. These 2000 people were only the first batch of city-building craftsmen, and a new batch would be rotated every month.

If the previous investigation results are not much different from the actual situation, two and a half months later, a hexagonal stone castle with a side length of 150 meters will appear on the original site of the former Fuyu Weidun Fort.

On each corner stands a ten-meter-high tower with artillery positions and 2000 army guards, making it the first military fortress completely controlled by the Ming army north of the Ming border wall, Fuyu City.

From then on, the Lulong Road from the north and northeast along the Laoha River Valley into the hinterland of the mountains, and then along the Baohe River Valley to Xifengkou and Panjiakou was completely blocked. Unless Fuyu City could be captured, no one could lead a large army through.

Further west, the Gubei Road, which runs northward along the Luan River system through the mountains, is also under serious threat. Less than 100 miles west along the valley from Fuyu City, the main river valley channel of the Luan River can be cut off.

Why did they send the Imperial Horse Guards Warrior Battalion to carry out the mission of going out of the pass to protect the city? This is something that we have to ask the cunning Emperor Jing Yang.

When designing this plan with the General Staff, Hong Tao did not interfere too much in questions such as how many craftsmen to send, how much materials and tools to carry, and how to deal with possible Mongolian cavalry. He only made two requests.

First, the armies of the Northeastern Military Commission, the Northern Military Commission, and the Naturalized Military Commission could not be used. The reason was simple: these armies were stationed near the border wall, and it was difficult to say whether there were any Mongolian spies in the area. Once a large-scale mobilization and assembly occurred, it might alert the enemy.

Whether it is the Mongolian left or right wing, they must first be treated as enemies in this matter. They must try to do things in a good direction, but plans must take into account the worst-case scenario.

This put the General Staff in a difficult position. If the army was not allowed to be used, the border troops would definitely not be able to do the job. Unless troops were transferred from the westernmost Northwest Regional Military Commission, they would have to consider sending the Marine Regional Military Commission north.

As a result, Hong Tao proposed a team that no one would have thought of: the Imperial Stables Warrior Battalion and the Four Guards Battalion, which were specifically responsible for the defense of the capital and the Forbidden City.

This army was not included in the military sequence of the Ming Dynasty. Like the Jinyiwei and Haihusi, it was the emperor's personal guard, supported by the imperial treasury and commanded by eunuchs.

But unlike the Jinyiwei and the Haihusi, the more than 8000 officers and soldiers in the Imperial Stables Warrior Battalion and the Four Guards Battalion had taken turns to join the Marine Guard for actual combat training since its establishment. Later, a large number of experienced officers and soldiers were added from the Marine Guard and the Army, and they were equipped with the most advanced muskets and field artillery.

Not only is it not inferior to any main army in terms of combat effectiveness and combat experience, it also has some of the functions of the Marine Guard and can carry out landing operations.

The most advantageous thing is that the Warrior Battalion and the Four Guard Battalion rarely appear in public, not to mention that the Mongolian or Jin Dynasty spies are difficult to detect. If the emperor does not mention it, even the General Staff will almost forget about them. Second, the expedition cannot be earlier than mid-July. This time the emperor's reason is difficult to convince the public. He said that before mid-July, there will be heavy rains and floods in the mountainous areas. Yuan Keli specifically asked the Imperial Observatory, but did not get any specific results, so he had to listen to the emperor first.

According to Yuan Keli, the emperor had taken even the heavens into account, so there was no reason for this battle to fail. In fact, as he wished, after the Warrior Battalion left the border wall, it first deployed 1000 troops, and swept every ravine and ridge in front, behind, left and right.

If they encountered any living people along the way, whether they were herdsmen or Han people, they would be captured and killed on the spot. If they encountered a larger herdsmen camp, they would not reveal their whereabouts first, send someone to notify the main force in the rear, and then use a large-scale roundabout method to encircle and surround them, and try not to let anyone escape.

According to Li Shi, the highest commander on the battlefield and the admiral of the Imperial Stables, no matter what method is used, the news of the army's departure must not be allowed to spread too quickly, and it must be delayed as long as possible.

Now the five Khalkha tribes, who had been nomadic here for decades, were the first to suffer misfortune. Although this area of ​​mountains was not fertile, the valleys near the water sources were full of grass in the summer and the climate was relatively cool, making it a good summer pasture.

The result was that one summer pasture after another was completely destroyed by the soldiers of the Warrior Camp using various methods. Family annihilations occurred quietly every day and night. Wherever the army passed, the felt tents, cattle, sheep, and horses were safe and sound, but the living people were missing.

On the third day after the army left the pass, they found a herdsmen camp with dozens of people. Li Shi dispatched three teams of 100 men to surround the small valley and captured more than 60 people in total. All of them were stabbed to death by the soldiers with bayonets and hastily buried in the grove on the hillside.

But there were six children under ten years old among the herdsmen, and the centurion in charge of the execution seemed a little reluctant and delayed giving the order. It was not until the central army caught up that they were caught by the chief of staff Lei Lao Hu.

According to military law, those who disobey military orders on the battlefield should be executed on the spot. Although Lei Lao Hu's name sounds cruel, he is not particularly stubborn. He deliberately handed the three centurions over to Admiral Li Shi for handling.

"Chief of Staff Lei, there's no need to kill such a young child. Let's have them guard him first, and when the craftsmen catch up, we can give him back to them to raise. It won't be a big deal."

Li Shi also understood the difficulties of his subordinates. The Warrior Battalion had followed the Emperor out of the country and participated in the siege of Tashanbao and the battle of Xinghe City. They fought bravely and suffered casualties. They were not rookie recruits who had never seen blood.

But the veterans had nothing to do with the indiscriminate killing of innocent people. Without leaking the news in advance, they were still unwilling to kill more people, and even more unwilling to punish their own officers for it.

However, in addition to the Warrior Battalion, the Northeast Military Command Chief of Staff Lei Lao Hu and five staff officers also followed. Although the Imperial Horse Supervisor was not of the same age as the Navy, Army, and General Staff, and was directly under the Emperor, since they were here, it was obvious that they were here to supervise the army.

The decision on combat operations was not something that he could decide on his own. Otherwise, before he could even return to the capital, he, the admiral, would be imprisoned, and His Majesty would probably not show mercy.

(End of this chapter)