Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 197

From ancient times to the present, from the East to the West, siege warfare or siege warfare generally follow the principle of "encirclement and siege", which is also one of the eight principles of military warfare in Sun Tzu's Art of War.The so-called "surrounding the division must be lacking", when encircling the enemy, one must set aside one side.Leaving a gap is not to leave it alone, but to be under one's own control.Preset an ambush at the place where the enemy must escape, so that they will fall into the ambush circle during their hasty escape.

In fact, "surrounding the division must be deficient" is not only a method of warfare, but also a way of thinking of the Chinese people from ancient times to the present.Its core is to leave room for people to behave in the world, not to talk too much, not to do things too extreme, if it exceeds a certain limit, it will often be counterproductive.

For Agui and Fukang'an, they both thought the same way.In their plan, the core strategy of this battle is to "outdo the few with the crowd."In addition to encircling Fuldan City from the east, west, and south, they also tried to find and cut off the grain road to Beihai Town.

At dusk, in the big tent in the Mongolian Karen military camp, there was a roomful of people standing there.Fukang'an stood in the top position, with two senior generals beside him; the other generals were arranged on the left and right sides of the sand table according to their ranks.

Behind Fukang'an, a person was in charge of holding the printed letter and the arrow box.Four military academies stood on both sides of a table, and on the table was a wooden shelf like a shrine, inside which was enshrined a bright yellow-rimmed sapphire blue flag, and in the middle was written a big red "" "Order"; this is Wang Mingqi.

At this time, although there were many people in the big tent, there was no noise at all, you could hear a needle drop.Everyone only listened to Fu Kang'an said: "Everyone, don't underestimate this group of people. This battle is not easy to fight. Although the opponent has few people, their firearms are more powerful than ours. No one has heard of it. That's why I and Guang Tinggong invited the emperor to mobilize fifteen firearms battalions and many artillery to go north.

Our army has the upper hand in terms of numbers, and hundreds of artillery pieces are in charge.According to the safe way of playing, we must step by step.The area east of Fuldan City is too large. Once the enemy retreats southward and eastward and enters the deep mountains, this battle will be impossible to fight.Therefore, one must cross the Suifen River and cut in from the east side of Fuldan City to cut off their retreat and food roads. "

At this time, a general standing at the bottom said: "Commander, let the last general go this way. Give me a few more cannons, if you can't stop them, I will come to see you."

When everyone saw it, it turned out that it was Wu Shihada, the deputy commander of the forward battalion and the first-class bodyguard.This man is from Jilin. Because of his bravery in all previous battles in Burma and Jinchuan battles, he was named the deputy capital of Mongolia in Zhengbai Banner. Minister post.As a result, he was dismissed from his post because he criticized Defeng, the minister in charge at the time, for accepting bribes and was found to be false, leaving only a first-class guard.

Fukang'an knew that Ushhada was fighting desperately, so he transferred him and promoted him to be the aileron commander of the vanguard battalion (from the third rank).Seeing someone pleading for orders, Fukang'an nodded approvingly, and then called the generals by name: "Wushhada, Dai Sanbao, Guanbao, Yaerjiang, Fu Kejing'e, and Tasha listen to the order!"

The six generals raised their hands and flattened their chests in a military salute, their armor slammed and they said in unison: "The mark is here!"

"I will give you 5000 men and forty cannons. You cross the river from the confluence of the Kutafu River and the Suifen River, go north along Ma'anzi Mountain, cut off the road east of Fuerdan City, and strictly prevent the enemy from entering the Fuerjaha River. flee."

Fukang'an then said to E Hui, the Chengdu general beside him: "Order Tangma to send a message to Du Erjia on the northern line, and ask him to move away from the northern line and attack from the west line of Fuldan City."

E Hui was taken aback, and immediately responded: "Marshal, do you mean to let the enemy flee north?"

Fukan'an nodded and said: "Yes! From Fuldan City to the north to Xingkai Lake, there are tens of thousands of miles in radius, with countless wastelands and swamps in between. I just want to force them into the 'Red Rust Water'!"

E Hui said: "But in this way, our team will have to stretch at least hundreds of miles to surround them. If the enemy relies on the power of firearms."

"I don't think it's a problem. As long as the enemy's supply line is cut off at Ush Hada, their muskets will be inferior to fire sticks in the end!" said Shu Liang, the commander of the Xianglan Banner Guards.

As soon as this remark came out, all the generals present laughed, and a smile appeared on Fukang'an's face.

Poor Marshal Fu didn't know that the supply line in Beihai Town didn't exist on the map, and Zhao Xin himself was the "supply brigade".

On August [-], a patrol boat west of Fuldan City exchanged fire with a small group of cavalry from the Qing army's northern front.Because Na Qitai suffered from this before, the Qing army who had been reminded in advance already knew the fierce firepower of the "continuous iron cannon" on the speedboat in Beihai Town.After losing a dozen cavalrymen, the scouts of the Qing army also roughly figured out the range of the continuous iron cannon.So the brigade behind stayed away from the river, and continued to advance five miles north of the river in accordance with the signs of Tangma.

The Qing army saw it very clearly, even if you have a strong ship and powerful guns, can you still drive the strange ship ashore?

In order to prevent the Qing army from coming around from the north, Chen Qingsong led a brigade of thousands of migrant workers to dig a large number of horse pits on the wasteland north of Jurgen City.

According to the data, the ancient horse sinking pits were generally located outside the city or on the main road outside the military camp.When digging, the pit is required to be five feet long, one foot wide, and three feet deep. Antler guns and bamboo sticks are buried in the pit.The appearance of the entire Makeng system looks like a character "Asia", with horizontal and vertical, covered with grass and sand.

Zhao Xin felt that it was too troublesome to do this. Since it was for tripping the horse, it would be fine if the horse’s legs could not be broken; the depth of [-] cm was enough, and there was no need to insert any bamboo stick traps. It was regarded as deep loosening of the black soil in advance. .

Starting from August 50th, more and more cavalry of the Qing army appeared from the west and south. Ding Guofeng and the others had already discovered the banner of the Eight Banners Mongolia in the west.In order to avoid too much killing and scaring away the enemy, Ding Guofeng and the others usually only shoot at a distance of [-] to [-] meters.Each harassing force has at most one platoon of troops.

At the same time, Zhao Xin ordered all the guards on duty at the checkpoints to retreat, and all the watchtowers and barracks built with logs were also burned down.The two patrol boats were also transferred back to the river southeast of Fuldan City before the Qing army pontoon bridge was built.

Suifenhe originates from Daling in Changbai Mountains (Laoyeling in later generations). Because of its twists and turns, it runs through the mountains and dense forests. It is called "Suifen", which means "awl" in Manchu.After passing through the Hunda Mountains and entering the vast plain, the whole river turned a big bend to the south and poured into the South China Sea in the east of Vladivostok (the Sea of ​​Japan in later generations was called the South China Sea in the Qing Dynasty).

On August 5000th, Wushi Hada led [-] people and crossed the Suifen River from west to east. They will follow the west foot of Ma'anzi Mountain to the north, cross the hilly area, and cut off the passage from Fuerdan City to the mouth of the Xila River.

On August [-]th, after a full meal and a "meaningful" Mid-Autumn Festival, the vanguard of the Fukang'an army finally arrived at the south bank of the Suifen River.

Judging from the screen of the flying drone at this time, the entire south bank of the Suifen River is densely packed with Qing army tents, and countless flags are scattered all over the camp.The distance between the battalions is clear and the regulations are strict.In addition to digging trenches and setting up antlers to defend the enemy camps, cavalry also shuttled and patrolled among them.

When the drone flew over a camp, I saw a man who looked like a military attache of the Qing army walking around in the camp holding a black flag.Immediately afterwards, many Qing soldiers walked out of the tent, carrying buckets and water bags, and went to the small river on the west side to fetch water.When the Qing troops who fetched water returned to the camp, the military officer raised a blue flag again. At this time, a group of Qing troops came out of the camp with axes and other tools to cut down trees.

"It's really interesting! It turns out that the ancient military camp looked like this." Liu Sheng stood aside, carefully staring at the picture sent back by the drone.

"The black flag fetches water, and the blue flag chops firewood. Nothing unusual. Have you found the cannon?"

"I'm looking for it right now, don't worry."

On August [-], the Qing troops who had arrived earlier began to erect pontoon bridges on the river bank.Liu Sheng sent a company of troops to attack the Qing troops who were building a pontoon bridge to the southeast of Fuldan City, in order to prevent their intention to build a pontoon bridge.As for the southwest direction, it was ignored, forcing the Qing army to enter the preset battlefield from the southwest direction.Until then, Zhao Xin did not order the artillery positions to fire.

On August [-], Fukang'an led the Chinese army and artillery troops to arrive and stationed in the Qing army camp on the south bank of the Suifen River.

On August [-], Du Erjia led the Qing army on the northern front and set up camp ten miles west of the old city of Zhuergen.

So far, the Qing army has completed the encirclement of Fuldan City on three sides.In the end, Zhao Xin kept his secrets. He didn't think that Fukang'an's purpose was to force himself into the swamp, so he still ignored the defense on the eastern front of Fuldan City.

"Marshal!" Fukang'an's soldiers quickly entered the big tent, and handed over a document wrapped in yellow silk with both hands.Fukang'an, who was eating, wiped his hands with a towel, took it over and opened it to have a look. It was Agui who transferred Qianlong's secret edict on Fukang'an's invitation to An:
"After reading it, Ah Gui quickly turned to Fukang'an camp: A closer look at what you have said is always a false word. Fukang'an is an old minister of honor, and he shares the same interests. As a minister of Manchuria, he should be a military horse. At this time, whoever is different from hatred and anger, cut this court food! The affairs of the army are handled by you. The power of affairs is unified. You said that the firearms of the Zhao bandits are sharp, and I will dispatch the Eight Banners Firearms Battalion under your tent to listen to them. You think to yourself I have received extraordinary favors in the past, and I will resend them all the time! How can I be stingy with the great rewards of the nobles! But when you two left Beijing, I hoped that you would perform in the summer. This summer is about to pass away, and Naier is still in Hunchun. Do not enter!
The soldiers denounced it, and it took half the world's power to raise the flag.Moreover, the disaster situation in Henan, Shandong, and Jiangsu is getting worse day by day, and Shouyuan, Wuwei, and Bailian are thinking about it day by day.You are not only unable to solve the worries of the emperor and father, but the labor of the teacher and the salary are more restrictive than the internal affairs, which is still increasing my worries.Check your heart at midnight, can you be safe?Jilin sees snow in August, and the soldiers are bitterly cold. With autumn and August as the limit, if you can't go to Fuerdan Fort, I will not sin. Can you not feel guilty?Such acts of paying respects in response to stories are rituals rather than rituals. If you don’t know the essence of rituals, you can only see the outlines of the court and the expectations of the people’s livelihood. "

At this time, it is already the season of high and refreshing autumn, and after reading Fukang An, the sweat is pouring down like rain.Qianlong's harsh words to him in the secret edict have never been seen before.The word "Qin this" written by cinnabar looks bright and dazzling.

Under the memorial is Agui's letter, explaining why the emperor was eager to march.News came from the capital that Sun Shiyi, the acting governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, found out that Zhu Youfen seemed to have an infant son who stayed in Xingning, Guangdong, and did not follow him to Guangzhou.There were rumors that this bastard was taken abroad, and there was no news from him since then.It was this matter that made Qianlong very angry.

Agui finally said in the letter: "The worry of the king's father is the shame of our generation. However, the strategy that was set before, the emperor has approved, the army is oppressing step by step, calm and calm is the odds of winning, and it is also possible to hope for success and be greedy." It is not the way to be loyal to the emperor. If you stumble a little, you will be humiliated by the emperor, so I would rather not be afraid! Yaolin knows the dangers of using troops, and my brother has transferred another [-] horses from Ninggu Pagoda.

It is said that during the 60 years of Qianlong's reign, he never personally led troops to fight.But this one is always compared with his grandfather Kangxi, who ranks in the ninth level, and has to give orders to the front line every time.But the emperor was an extremely smart person, he just commented on the tactics and instructed the strategy.It means that the frontline general must fight according to his strategy, and it doesn't matter how he fights.

Fukang'an sat back on the chair slumped, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a towel.It's not that he doesn't want to fight as soon as possible, but that the road outside the pass is really difficult.For more than half a year, besides building artillery, he and Agui were busy building roads, mobilizing military rations, and building supply lines for the army.Now all the food has to be sent to Ninggu Pagoda first, and then transported southward via Hunchun to the north. Not to mention the time delay, the cost on the road is also very huge.

Right now, Fukang'an feels that he has enough artillery, and no matter how bad it is, he can confront Zhao Xin.When Wushi Hada cut off the opponent's food road, Zhao Xin, who was trapped in Fuerdan City, had no choice but to flee north.By then, bad weather will be their worst enemy.

But Agui's words in the letter shocked Fukang'an quite a bit. If that Zhao Xin was really a remnant of the past, no matter what he said, he would not be able to run away.If he is allowed to go out to sea on a fast boat, and then join the big blue and white boat, it is unknown when he will make a comeback when he is happy.The outer northeast coastline is so long, and the court will be dragged down if it comes again.

So on August [-], Fukang'an spent a day inspecting the battalions along the Suifen River and the construction of the pontoon bridge, and decided to launch an attack three days later.A day later, Duerjia, who was far away on the northern line, received an order to attack.

His eyes turned to Zhao Xin.Seeing that the pontoon bridge of the Qing army was about to be built, Liu Sheng ordered all the troops of the three battalions to enter the position, and the heavy machine gun and artillery positions everywhere were not allowed to fire without the clear order of the headquarters.Ding Guofeng and Sheng Haizhou had retreated from the south bank and entered the defensive position in the south of Zhuergen.

In Fuldan City, in order to guard against a sneak attack by a small group of Qing troops, 1000 migrant workers were selected from thousands of migrant workers in advance, and weapons were distributed.These people had all undergone preliminary militia training before May, and there was no problem shooting from the city.

On the morning of August 22, the battle began.

First, Duerjia sent three thousand and eight banners of Mongolian cavalry. They divided into two columns and began to approach the two wings of Zhuergen City.Its purpose is to attract opponents to cover the Qing army on the south bank of the Suifen River to cross the river.In order to test the firepower, the Mongolian cavalry on the northern flank sent a battalion of 500 troops.

These Eight Banners Mongolians moved forward step by step, and when they approached a distance of 50 meters from the first trench, with a whistle, just one company of shooting turned the cavalry on their backs.The Mongolian cavalry quickly retreated to a position of 80 meters and assembled, looking for breakthroughs on the flanks when preparing to attack in the middle.

Wu Kanbei rode a rough horse and followed Ben Niulu's men and horses on the middle road.Behind them is a battalion of Han Eight Banners Musketeers and twenty artillery pieces.These people are not going to die, but to stand on the two wings and behind the musket battalion, and use bows and arrows to provide continuous firepower output during the shooting gap.

"Platoon leader, the enemy is coming." A soldier in the trench whispered to Miichiro when he saw the cavalry approaching.

"Without my order, no one is allowed to shoot." Miichiro was very aggrieved. They even received the order to put the Qing army within 50 meters before shooting.At this distance, the muskets and cannons of the Qing army can already cause damage to one's own side.

However, Lianli said during the battle briefing that the purpose of doing this was to create the illusion of a stalemate on the western front and attract all the Qing troops on the southern front to cross the river and enter the preset battlefield.

In Zhao Xin's view, didn't the Qing army like to put up formations?I have prepared a plain battlefield with a radius of nearly forty square kilometers for you. You can pose as you like, and change various postures.

(End of this chapter)