weaving

Chapter 1632 Wang Tieren, well done!
On the eighth day of the third month, at the hour of Shen (3-5 PM), Zhang Guangda led three heavy cavalry squads to arrive at the Jiagu outpost position ahead of time.

"It will be dark in less than an hour."

Looking at Xiang Jinbao, who was covered in soot, Zhang Guangda asked, "Do you have enough gunpowder and cannonballs?"

Xiang Jinbao was slightly taken aback. Zhang Guangda completely disregarded the casualties on his side and didn't ask about them at all. Instead, he focused on the cannonballs and gunpowder, which really puzzled him.

"We have plenty. We know this is going to be a tough battle. We brought all the cannons and gunpowder, and we've been using them sparingly," Xiang Jinbao replied honestly.

"Okay. No need to save anymore."

Xiang Jinbao seemed not to understand the meaning of those words, and suddenly asked, "General, where are the Iron Man brothers? I haven't seen them."

Zhang Guangda remained silent, turned his head to look towards the Shu River, gritted his teeth and said, "Wang Tieren, well done!"

Seeing his expression, Xiang Jinbao didn't dare to ask any more questions and blurted out, "General, you rest for a moment, I'll go take another look ahead."

"Let's go together, I also want to see how the Tartars' offensive is going."

…………

As soon as the hour of You (5-7 PM) arrived, the sky began to darken, and the Jurchen offensive gradually weakened. By the exact hour of You, the battle at Jiagushao had temporarily ceased.

However, there were still many soldiers from both sides on the battlefield. They moved forward in small groups from the edge of the battlefield, groping their way forward. They would stop and struggle for a while from time to time before getting up and continuing to grope their way forward.

The soldiers on both sides seemed to have some kind of tacit understanding. They were trying their best to avoid contact with each other. Where the soldiers of the Yongyi Army advanced, the Jurchen Tartars retreated, and where the Jurchen Tartars advanced, the soldiers of the Yongyi Army retreated a little. The entire battlefield was like a jagged line, but no battle took place.

This is how both sides clean up the battlefield. Their main task is to rescue their own wounded soldiers, move the bodies of their fallen soldiers, and collect the weapons left on the battlefield.

Because both sides in the conflict have this need, at this moment, the focus is not on fighting, but on gradually searching forward from their own lines while deliberately avoiding the other side, maintaining a strange tacit understanding.

Wang Sanhu, the commander of the chariot division, was in charge of clearing the battlefield. Since they were on the defensive, there were no wounded or dead soldiers of the Yongyi Army in the battle zone. Their main task was to finish off the Tartars who were not quite dead and to search for usable items such as bows and arrows on the battlefield.

In addition, they also had to remove the corpses of the Jurchens piled up in front of the defensive line to avoid affecting the defensive operations the next day. This was to prevent the corpses from rotting in the hot weather and causing disease, and also to prevent the Jurchens from using the piled-up corpses as cover, thus avoiding the pile of corpses affecting the aiming of the muskets.

…………

Besides Wang Sanhu, the remaining two centurions, Morigen and Ma Sanzhuang, as well as Hu Dayou, the centurion of the heavy cavalry, and Gu Zhide, the officer of the central command, are now gathered around the commander Zhang Guangda and the deputy commander Xiang Jinbao.

"What?" Xiang Jinbao looked unwilling: "Jiagu Sentry isn't guarding anymore?"

"We're destined to lose, so why waste our lives here?"

"General, so many of our brothers have given their lives here. How can we just hand them over to the Tartars like this? How can we face the fallen soldiers?"

Zhang Guangda stared at Jinbao with his big eyes and said in a deep voice, "I am responsible for the soldiers who are still alive."

Xiang Jinbao was speechless for a moment. Although he still looked somewhat unconvinced, he did not say anything more to refute Zhang Guangda.

"General, shall we retreat tonight?" Centurion Ma Sanzhuang asked cautiously. "The chariot troops will retreat tonight." Zhang Guangda glanced around at everyone and then said, "We'll have an early breakfast tomorrow morning, give them a good beating first, and then retreat."

At this moment, Xiang Jinbao said, "General, give the order."

"Make more food tonight and bring out tomorrow's breakfast." Zhang Guangda paused here.

After scanning the area, he suddenly asked, "Where are the Three Tigers?"

Xiang Jinbao hurriedly replied, "Wang Sanhu is overseeing the cleanup of the battlefield."

"Gu Zhide, go and replace him."

"Here."

…………

By the time of Xu (7-9 PM), the sky had completely darkened. Although it wasn't pitch black, it was enough to cover the Yongyi Army's movements.

Wang Sanhu, the commander of the chariot division, led his chariot soldiers, carrying pre-prepared rations, light cannons and a small amount of ammunition, plus some "ten thousand enemy soldiers," and quietly left the camp under the cover of night.

Like the supply wagon unit, they also abandoned the eighty chariots and unloaded the oxen and mules that pulled them to carry light cannons, gunpowder, and military supplies such as the "Ten Thousand Enemy Soldiers".

Apart from that, there was no other movement on the Jiagushao Yongyi Army's position, just as usual. As for the missing men, they were replaced by heavy cavalry, so that even in daylight, the Jurchens might not notice.

Another squad of cavalry followed Wang Sanhu's chariot troops in the retreat. This allowed their secondary horses to help carry some military supplies and also strengthened the reconnaissance along the way. Even if they encountered a small number of Jurchen Tartar cavalry, they could fight them and protect Wang Sanhu's flank.

On the battlefield of the Yongyi Army at Jiagushao, although it appeared as calm as usual, troops were being moved silently in secret. However, being inside the defensive line, the Jurchens could not detect it.

According to the pre-arranged withdrawal plan, in addition to the tank troops of the tank division withdrawing first, Zhang Guangda also resolutely abandoned the other two positions and concentrated all his troops on the Jiagushao position.

Only a few squads of light cavalry remained on those two positions. Their mission was to detonate the tanks and heavy artillery that had not been withdrawn immediately after the "dawn counterattack" was launched at Jiagushao. These equipment must not be left intact to the enemy.

The cannons and rocket launchers on those tanks have been dismantled and transported to Jiagushao, where they will be put to use in the counter-offensive tomorrow morning.

In addition to ordinary tanks, the tank division was also equipped with twenty heavy artillery vehicles. These heavy artillery pieces could not be moved by manpower alone, so they had to be destroyed along with the heavy artillery vehicles.

"Remember this, everyone. In tomorrow morning's battle, you must break into the Tartar camp no matter what. Don't be stingy with the cannons, bombard them to death. Either run out of cannons, or the cannons explode, or just keep bombarding them."

Zhang Guangda looked at the group and asked, "Have you all memorized it?"

"I've written it down."

Ma Sanzhuang, the commander of the light cavalry, agreed. His light cavalry would be responsible for the main attack tomorrow morning, and one-third of the artillery and rocket magazines would be allocated to him.

The heavy cavalry followed behind the light cavalry. After breaching the Jurchen camp in front of Jiagushao, the heavy cavalry charged in and hacked and slashed indiscriminately. The task of the frontal charge was naturally left to them.

As for the rangers, they were divided into two parts: one half stayed behind at the Jiagu outpost to conserve their strength, while the other half was responsible for covering the flanks of the light cavalry to prevent them from being surrounded and ambushed by the Tartars.