weaving

Chapter 1614 An Insurmountable Barrier

Xiang Jinbao's goal was not to intercept Baiyintu at the Zhaojialing line, but simply to delay Baiyintu's southward advance, giving the troops behind him more time to set up their defenses.

Baiyintu was completely unaware of all this. He thought that the Ming army could block his southward advance with just a thousand cavalrymen, which was nothing short of wishful thinking.

However, no matter what, the Tartars who were marching south from Baiyintu were delayed by Xiang Jinbao's cavalry, which took at least half a day to cover. Although Xiang Jinbao led the Ming cavalry away, it was already dark.

"Useless, a bunch of useless trash."

Baiyintu himself found nothing at Zhaojialing Village and felt he had lost face in front of his subordinates. But he couldn't criticize himself, so in the end, Guleta and Ahanikan took the blame.

"Bayintugushan, the Ming cavalry are cunning. They don't engage us in close combat at all, they only fire hand cannons from the outside. They are truly hateful."

Ahani Khan refused to admit his mistake, and the losses of the Jurchen cavalry he led were indeed not significant. Moreover, he was personally appointed by the Jurchen chieftain Huang Taiji as the Mele Ejen, while Baiyintu was merely his superior, not his master.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Baiyintu didn't say anything more, but glared fiercely at Guleta again. Then, Ahanikan's voice rang in his ears: "Gushan, it's getting dark. Shouldn't we set up camp?"

While seemingly seeking instructions from Bayintu, Ahanikan's tone carried a hint of disrespect. Fortunately, Bayintu didn't seem to notice these details and simply looked up at the sky.

"It's still early, and the situation in Turg is not optimistic. We should make sure to travel as far as possible."

Ahanikan didn't move at all. He rode his horse beside Baiyintu and whispered a reminder again: "Gushan, putting aside the time of day, these Ming dogs may not have fled far. They might be hiding nearby. If it gets dark and the Ming dogs come to harass us again, it will be troublesome."

On his warhorse, Baiyintuz glanced sideways at Ahanikan, feeling rather uneasy—he could clearly sense that Ahanikan no longer respected him as much as before.

However, what Ahani Khan said made sense. After a moment of silence, Baiyintu finally spoke: "What you said makes a lot of sense. Let's do it your way."

Soon, the Tartar troops who were slowly heading south on the official road stopped. They walked off the road in order, cleared away the grass and leveled the land in the open field, and began to set up camp.

…………

"Give it your all! General Xiang is leading the cavalry to block the Tartars ahead. We can't let him down!" Wang Sanhu, the centurion of the Vermilion Bird Battalion's chariot division, shouted loudly.

Jiagushao is divided into two villages, East and West. They are named West Jiagushao and East Jiagushao respectively because they are located in different places and separated by a small hilly area.

Dongjiagushao Village is located right next to the official road, only about two miles away. There is also a slightly wider dirt road connecting it to the official road, but it is not as wide or as high as the official road.

Today, the area from Dongjiagushao Village to Xijiagushao Village is filled with busy and tense people. Judging from their clothing, they are definitely not ordinary local people—of course, the ordinary local people have long since disappeared.

These people were the officers and soldiers of the Vermilion Bird Battalion's chariot division. They had already removed their armor and were all engaged in the construction of the defensive positions. Even the official road was full of chariot soldiers.

If you look closely, you can see that there are also chariots hidden between the piled-up earthen walls, especially around the village of Dongjiagushao.

Furthermore, many tiger-squat cannons, mortars, and No. 5 small breech-loading cannons were mounted on the earthen walls, making them truly impossible to defend against!
In the distance, a cavalryman galloped towards them. He reined in his horse about ten paces in front of Wang Sanhu, dismounted, and quickly stepped forward, clasping his hands in a fist salute. "Reporting to Commander Wang," he said, "General Wang has led his light cavalry across the Shu River and is on his way." Wang Sanhu was overjoyed. "How far is General Wang from here?" he asked.

"It's less than three miles; we'll arrive in no time."

"Have we received any news from General Xiang?"

"Tell General Wang that the Tartars have arrived at Zhao Jialing and he will stop them from advancing south. Please expedite the construction of fortifications."

Okay. I understand.

…………

At this time, Gushan Ezhen Suna of the Mongolian Bordered White Banner on the east bank of the Shu River had also discovered the location of Zhang Guangda's camp—Gaomiyu.

Gaomiyu, also known as Gaoyuzhuang.

Legend has it that in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the Xu family moved here and gradually formed a village. Because it is located on the eastern foot of Dazhu Mountain, with high terrain and dense forests in the valley, it was named Gaomiyu.

Over time, in addition to the Xu family, more than ten other families, including Guo, Wang, Gao, Ma, Zhang, Yu, Luo, Sun, Liu, Tian, ​​and Sheng, have settled in Gaomiyu Village.

Now that news of the Tartar invasion has arrived, the people of Gaomiyu have long since fled into Dazhu Mountain to hide, and this place has become an empty village. It is just right for Zhang Guangda to use it to build a defensive line to resist the Jurchens from going south to reinforce Tuerge.

Although the heavy cavalry numbered only over 800, and suffered some losses while intercepting the Mongol Tartars of Suna, there were still warriors from the supply wagon unit. Unlike the chariot unit, which had a limited number of only over 2,000 men, the supply wagon unit had a full 1,100 more men than the chariot unit.

Even though one-third of the more than 3,200 people in the supply wagon unit are doing logistical support work for the Vermilion Bird Battalion, their daily training is not as rigorous as that of real wagon soldiers, and the combat power of the supply wagons is not as sharp as that of the tanks.

Even the logistics soldiers were more capable than the regular troops from other parts of the Ming Dynasty. It wasn't that they couldn't fight, but they were simply no match for the elite troops of the Yongyi Army.

Although Gaomiyu is a bit far from the official road, about three or four miles away, it is advantageous in terms of its location. It is located at the bend of the official road and can threaten the official roads to the east and south at the same time. It is an important position for Suna to go south and is almost a must-attack point.

Today, Gaomiyu has become a veritable military fortress, garrisoned by four thousand brave soldiers of the Zhuque Battalion of the Yongyi Army. It is not a small force that can be ignored!

The entire defensive position was centered on Gaomiyu and extended outwards in a complete circle.

Especially on the south side of Gaomiyu, following the contours of Dazhu Mountain, this side extends outward the most, with its southernmost point less than a mile and a half away from the official road.

It can be said that they have completely brought the official road into their artillery range!
…………

Jiagushao and Gaomiyu are destined to become insurmountable strongholds for the Tartars, where they will surely suffer heavy losses and become a pain they can never forget, ultimately leading to their defeat and retreat!