Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 374 Take a risk!

The flames could travel far in the darkness, and judging from the momentum, the fire was quite large, a large area fire.

Sun and Yang arrived soon, and the three of them held a short meeting and quickly reached a consensus. No matter what happened, they had to find out the situation immediately and order all troops to prepare for battle, especially the cavalry. They not only had to prepare for battle, but also had to advance five miles and wait for further news before launching an attack when they had the chance.

The Yebushous, who had not gotten enough rest, got ready and set out again. The family generals also followed them, trying to find out what had happened as soon as possible.

After arranging everything, Jia Lian found some cold water to wash his face to make his mind clearer, and then made a cup of strong tea.

War is like this, all kinds of unexpected situations may occur at any time. During the daytime battle, it was obvious that the grasslands were not weak, but the lack of unity among the tribes, and there were abnormal movements to preserve strength. Considering the purpose of the tribes that united south this time, which was to plunder after the white disaster to replenish themselves, judging from the current situation, they certainly did not get enough results. The grassland tribes knew very well what the consequences of unsuccessful robbery would be. In this case, it is not impossible to change the target of robbery.

Infighting!

After this word appeared, everything seemed to be explained clearly, but it was unknown whether this internal struggle was spontaneous within the grassland, with the purpose of annexation, or whether it was an internal integration action under the leadership of Li Ni. No matter which one it was, judging from the current fire in Zhangjiakou, it was out of control.

Readers who like to engage in struggles know that the simplest, most effective and most profitable tactic for the merger between two groups is decapitation.

It now appears that regardless of whether the beheading was successful, it caused great chaos, a deliberate act by the losing party, using the fire to cover their escape.

Seeing the time on his pocket watch was three o'clock in the morning, Jia Lian tried his best to suppress his inner anxiety. If he missed this opportunity, it would be difficult for the elite troops of the grasslands to gather again, and the opportunity to inflict heavy damage on the grasslands at one time would be gone. So far, the results of the battle were less than 5,000 beheaded. This was the inalterable defect of the Central Plains army, which was mainly composed of infantry.

Thinking that the chance of a similar incident happening again was slim, Jia Lian gritted his teeth and made a decision. He stood up and left the tent. "Prepare the horses. Go check on the preparations of the cavalry camps."

Cavalry was a relatively expensive type of soldier in the Great Zhou. The entire Xishan camp had only 5,000 cavalrymen, and only one of the battalions had heavy cavalry with two men riding armored horses, while the rest were mostly light cavalry with one man riding alone.

When Jia Lian arrived, the soldiers were busy arranging their horse gear. Seeing that the cavalrymen were equipped with swords, bows and guns, Jia Lian felt mixed emotions. They could have changed their equipment earlier.

Now is not the time to dwell on these things!
Upon hearing the news, General Sun rushed over to join them and asked, "What do you want, Commander-in-Chief?"

Jia Lian said sternly, "This opportunity is rare, it's worth the risk. No more waiting! Cavalry attack!"

Sun Tongzhi said: "You don't know, the commander-in-chief, most of the cavalry are night blind, they can't attack without torches, and lighting torches will expose us."

Jia Lian was stunned for a moment, then responded: "I don't believe it's worth taking this risk. Most of our soldiers are blinded by birds. Can the grassland soldiers be stronger than us? Pass on my order, all troops attack, and light torches if you can't see! If we miss this possible opportunity to kill the enemy on a large scale, it will be too difficult to do so in the future."

Sun Tongzhi naturally obeyed the order and quickly ordered all troops to light torches and set off. Jia Lian went directly to the Shenji Camp and ordered them to set off immediately after getting ready.

Upon receiving the military order, countless torches were immediately lit in the camp, making no effort to conceal the signs that the entire army was ready for battle.

What exactly happened in the city?

As the temporary leader, Li Ni found it difficult for the various tribes on the grassland to unite as one, so he had evil thoughts. Before that, he was still thinking about the balancing act, but King Lin Dan's actions during the day gave him a slap in the face.

The conservative King Lindan and King Chahar were not allies, and the radicals Wen Naxing and Bahama were not allies either. It would be better to let the radicals kill the conservatives, and then balance the two factions internally. In fact, Li Ni didn't even need to take the initiative. Wen Naxing and Bahama discussed it first, and then came to see him at night, saying that the old guys were not cooperating, so he just took the opportunity to kill them.

The two brothers were actually thinking that since they couldn't rob the Great Zhou, they could just rob their own people. If they couldn't find any loss, they could find it everywhere. Robbery was just an excuse, and the real purpose was to take advantage of the opportunity to annex.

Li Ni naturally had nothing to say, so he just let them do it. After the two men left, Li Ni ordered his followers to prepare and set off at any time.

Do you know what I mean?
Li Ni was not optimistic about the brothers' actions, but he did not dare to persuade them, fearing that they would attack him directly. Considering Lin Dan's unruly behavior, Li Ni naturally had to make some choices and responses.

Li Ni sent someone to deliver a secret message to the King of Chahar, telling him to leave the city quickly and stay among the main force of the tribe.

Upon hearing the news, King Chahar was horrified and did not bother to inform King Lindan. He took his 500 cavalrymen and rushed out of the north gate like a whirlwind before anyone else could react and returned to the camp outside the city.

Wen Naxing and Bahama didn't know who leaked the news, and they couldn't wait any longer. They immediately took action together and headed towards King Lin Dan's residence.

When King Lin Dan learned that King Chahar had fled, he was a step slower and had no chance to escape. All four gates were blocked, so he simply ordered his followers to set fires everywhere in the city, even Li Ni's residence was not spared and was set on fire.

There is some rain in the north in spring, but not much, so dryness is the majority of the time. There was also a strong wind that night, so once a fire started it spread quickly and there was no time to put it out.

After Li Ni's base was set on fire, he quickly led his men to the north gate. The gatekeeper did not stop him. After Li Ni successfully left the city, he first ran away from the chaotic battlefield and headed straight for Datong with more than a thousand people. There were still troops left by four tribes in that place, as well as other large and small tribes. Li Ni wanted to take a gamble and see if he could integrate some of the troops for his own use and form a force that would completely obey his orders.

To the west of the city, Wen Naxing's tribe launched a surprise attack on King Lin Dan's tribe, catching the other side off guard. To the north of the city, Bahama's men also launched an attack on the Chahar tribe, but failed to achieve the purpose of the surprise attack. In short, there was a fire in the city, Wen Naxing and Bahama led people to surround and kill King Lin Dan, and there was also a mess outside the city. The four sides killed each other indiscriminately, and there was also Li Ni who watched the show.

On Jia Lian's side, the Shenji Camp was the first to complete assembly and set out directly without waiting for the Xishan Camp. After a one-hour forced march, they rested for half an hour three miles away from the city and then formed a battle formation.

At this time, Ye Bushu and his family generals discovered the Shenji Camp, and came over to join them and report the news.

The news received by both sides was chaos. There were fires and killings in the city, and there was also killings outside the city. However, the north was better, with no big fires. In the west, there was a camp with flames.

Jia Lian saw this situation and realized that it was meaningless to enter the city. There were fires everywhere anyway, so he could only find a direction to attack directly. Considering that the official road in the west connected to Datong, he decided to attack in the west to see if he could block the retreat of the grassland tribes in the direction of Datong in the west.

After deciding to attack, Jia Lian first sent someone to convey a message to General Sun, informing him of his movements and ordering the Xishan camp to follow up.

There are not so many rules at this time. Just bypass the city and head west.

Ye Bushu and his family generals formed a mixed camp again. This time their mission was not to cover the flanks, but to go around the back.

When the sky was slightly white, the main force of the Shenji Battalion launched an attack on a large camp in front of them. This was the camp of the Khorchin tribe. The main force had gone to fight the Lindan tribe, and there were not many people left, and they were the logistics troops.

Faced with the sudden attack of the Shenji Camp, the logistics and supply troops were caught off guard and did not organize any defense at all. Instead, they simply mounted their horses and ran away. Relying on their superb horsemanship, many of them did not even put on saddles.

Jia Lian, who wanted to set a fire as well, ordered that there was no need to set a fire, and that they could just push forward. More than a thousand logistics soldiers did not escape, and were intercepted by the mixed camp that went around from behind. In the end, only more than a hundred people escaped, and the rest were either killed or captured. At this time, the cavalry of the Xishan camp also arrived, and it was almost dawn. Jia Lian ordered the cavalry to pursue immediately, and to fight if there was a suitable opportunity, and not to fight if there was no opportunity. At the same time, he ordered the main infantry of the Xishan camp to enter the city, quickly put out the fire, and try to save as many people as possible. Jia Lian led his troops to follow the direction of the cavalry to see if there was a chance to fight again.

The sneak attack by Wen Naxing's army could be said to be successful, or it could be said to be unsuccessful. How should I put it? Most of Lin Dan's army was captured and surrendered, while a small number fled to the north of the city.

Just when Wen Naxing rushed out of the city and planned to head north to attack the Chahar tribe, he received two messages.

The first piece of news was that the camp behind them was attacked by Zhou's army, and only a hundred people escaped from the remaining troops, and the camp was lost. Wen Naxing did not think about fighting back, but thinking of the battle during the day, he decisively gave up. The second piece of news was neither good nor bad. The Bahamas' attack on the Chahar tribe failed to achieve the purpose of a sneak attack. After a melee between the two sides, the Bahamas retreated.

Considering the failure of the siege of King Lin Dan in the city, and the result that this guy took advantage of the chaos and ran away, Wen Naxing still thought that he should go to Datong first. As for Li Ni's life or death, he couldn't care about it now. The troops in Datong were the future of whether the Khorchin tribe could dominate the southern grasslands of the desert. Although he felt sorry for the property and food robbed from the camp, couldn't he beat the Shenji Camp?

Wen Naxing was still very decisive. He immediately led his troops to clean up the battlefield and turned west to Datong. When the cavalry from the Xishan camp caught up with them, they had already run for half an hour.

The battle in the north of the city lasted until dawn. Seeing that they could not defeat each other, both sides retreated decisively. Knowing that the Zhou army had already attacked, they could not care less and packed up their luggage and bedding, preparing to leave first.

The Zhou army, which was short of manpower and mobility, chased around Zhangjiakou. When they arrived, both sides were packing up. The cavalry wanted to charge, but they didn't dare to do so when they saw the vast army busy.

The other side was not without vigilance. After discovering the Zhou cavalry, they immediately divided their troops to be on guard. One side did not dare to fight, and the other side did not want to fight. They confronted each other for two hours. The sun rose and the main force of the Shenji Camp arrived.

When Jia Lian saw this situation, he thought that he couldn't just let them get away like this, so he decided to fight them.

The cavalry protected the two wings, and the main force in the middle formed a battle formation and launched a decisive attack. Under normal circumstances, this battle would have been a bit reckless.

Isn't this abnormal?
Facing the attack of the Shenji Camp, it was impossible for the Chahar and Bahamas to unite. Seeing that it was the Chahars who were being attacked, Bahamas decisively ordered to step up their guard and run away as soon as they were ready.

When the Chahar tribe saw that the soldiers of the Shenjiying were arranged in a square formation, holding bayonets, pushing cannons and rocket carts, and launching an attack forward, they immediately sent part of their troops to block their way.

At the same time, he ordered that if possible, they should not take anything with them and run away quickly, leaving the Bahamas to take the blame. After this order was given, those who had already packed up ran away first, and the rest who were quick to move followed, leaving behind their belongings and running away, not to mention the food and fodder they had brought. The King of Chahar was relatively calm, and he gathered his men and stopped them from running around, thus curbing the chaos.

The trouble was the troops responsible for interception, which had only a few men, just over 3,000 in number. They had just finished fighting with the Bahamas when Zhou's army arrived.

The cavalry was definitely not equipped to defend, which meant they were just standing there to be attacked. Fortunately, they had prepared a lot of sandbags and dug some trenches beforehand, and lined up behind the trenches, waiting for the chaos when the Shenji Battalion crossed the trenches, so that they could take advantage of their speed to attack. The problem was that the Shenji Battalion stopped when they saw the trenches, allowing the artillery that followed to open fire. The interception troops could only hide behind the trenches, and the previously prepared oars also played a role, serving as a fixed shelter to avoid the attack of artillery shells.

Jia Lian was also confused when he saw that the rowing cart had no destructive power under the attack of the shells. Can a homemade tank do this by piling sandbags on the rowing cart? Where is my mortar? Oh, I don’t have a mortar!

Jia Lian, who wanted to slap himself twice, thought to himself: Why didn’t you think of getting a few mortars?

But it should be useless. If you shoot with a solid bullet, it won't have much effect. You need to get the right ammunition as soon as possible. It will explode when it hits the ground. The key is the fuse! You can only write it down first.

All in all, Jia Lian has found too many shortcomings in this battle so far.

When Jia Lian wanted to order the cavalry to attack, but there was more than one enemy on the opposite side, he really didn't dare to take the risk, when news came from the city. A fire burned down half of the city, and more than a thousand people were rescued, mainly women.

After hearing the news, Jia Lian could no longer control his anger. He imagined what had happened to the people in the city who had no time to escape. He ordered the rocket vehicles to use up all their ammunition and the artillery to fire their gun barrels.

The grassland soldiers hiding behind the oars and trenches were trembling. As soon as the artillery fire stopped, the Shenji Battalion launched an attack.

Facing casualties caused by sparse arrows and the suppression of dense volleys of gunfire, they charged with bayonets in hand.

About ten steps from the trench, some sturdy soldiers lit grenades and threw them out. Amid the continuous explosions, not only did the enemy fall, but also the morale disappeared.

Faced with rows of bayonets, the intercepting steppe soldiers did not pose much threat, and sporadic resistance was quickly overwhelmed.

The Chahar King, who had been paying attention to this place, decisively ordered 3,000 elite cavalry to launch a charge. The Xishan cavalry also responded and launched an interception charge.

The cavalry on both sides finally broke out into the first fierce collision!

(End of this chapter)