Ming politicians

The attack on the grassland tribes is dominated by cavalry, and there are almost no infantry. This is because of the special terrain of the grassland, and it is difficult for the infantry to play a big role. Just imagine the vast grassland and think about chasing war horses with your legs. Impossible thing, while fighting on the plains, there is basically no possibility for infantry to defeat cavalry.The soldiers of the Jiangning Battalion who rushed to the grassland were all cavalry. As for the Artillery Battalion and the Shenji Battalion, the equipment was the best in the entire Jiangning Battalion, and the horses used to transport the artillery were also the best.

In the conquest of the grassland, the artillery battalion can play a decisive role, which is also beyond doubt.

The terrain of the grassland is open, and at most it is a hilly area. You can't see any mountains, and the firing of artillery will not be affected. The Tartars, that is, during the conquest of the grassland, made the cavalry famous. The cavalry of the grassland tribes were no opponents at all.

For this expedition, Su Tiancheng naturally relied heavily on the artillery battalion.

If the artillery battalion is used well, casualties can be avoided to the greatest extent, and the army of the grassland tribes can be defeated at the fastest speed. At the beginning, Su Tiancheng led the soldiers of the Jiangning battalion into the Hetao area to conquer the Xibe and Daur tribes , the focus is on the power of the artillery.

Because of the conquest of the grassland tribes, Song Sijun has allocated a large number of artillery and equipped them to the Xibe and Daur tribes. It should be said that this conquest is sufficient.

On the 14th of the twelfth lunar month in the 27th year of Chongzhen, the three-way army set off from Fengzhen.

Hong Chengchou and Mo Chuo led 29 Datong frontier troops and [-] soldiers from the Xibo tribe to directly attack the Chahar Right Front Banner. Fengzhen is only more than [-] miles away from the Har Right Front Banner. It is estimated that around the [-]th of the twelfth lunar month, the battle can The start started, and Qin Liangyu and Tong Chai led five thousand Datong frontier troops and [-] Daur tribal sergeants.Attack the Chahar Right Wing Rear Banner, take Maoerzhuang and Jining, and start the attack. This route is the longest marching route, which is close to a thousand miles.However, according to the high speed, around the second day of the first lunar month, a battle can start. Su Tiancheng led [-] Jiangning battalion soldiers to attack Chahar Right Wing Middle Banner via Tucheng and Zhuozi. The marching route is about [-] miles. The plan is three days later , to launch an attack.

The speed of the three-way army must be fast.Once the attack starts, the entire grassland tribe will be alarmed.

Su Tiancheng's plan was to completely wipe out the Chahar tribe, including the left and right wings of the Chahar tribe. After destroying the right wing of the Chahar tribe, he turned around and attacked the left wing. This was still the original arrangement.Hong Chengchou led the army to attack the left-wing front banner, and Qin Liangyu led the army to attack the left-wing rear banner.Su Tiancheng led the army to attack the Left Wing Middle Banner.

After this battle, let's see if the many tribes in the grassland are afraid and willing to surrender. The next big army to attack is the Tumed tribe and the Zhunge tribe.

From the perspective of the configuration of military forces, the left and right wings of the Chahar tribe have the strongest combat effectiveness.The leaders of the tribe are also concentrated in these two banners. The combat effectiveness of the front banner is slightly weaker, and the combat effectiveness of the rear banner is the worst. According to the general arrangement, the focus of the rear banner is to ensure the logistics supply.The combat power is relatively weak.

Of course, the ultimate goal of the army is to wipe out the Horqin tribe.

The situation of the Horqin tribe is very special. It has a very close connection with the Houjin Tartars, and it is also an important support for the Houjin Tartars in Mongolia. The queen and concubine Zhuang of Huang Taiji are all women of the Horqin tribe. After defeating the Horqin tribe, Huang Taiji's dominance in Mongolia will be completely destroyed.

If this goal is achieved, Su Tiancheng's battle plan this time will be fully realized.

It is too late to conquer all the tribes in the grassland, no matter in terms of time or energy. The grassland is too big, and the conditions are very bad. The financial and material resources consumed by each conquest are not comparable to those in the pass. , Supplies are very important for conquests on the grasslands. If there is a lack of food, it is tantamount to self-destruction. Now it is winter, and how to fight against the severe cold climate is also a key consideration for the commander.

The starting routes of the three armies are different, divided into three directions: left, middle and right. Su Tiancheng starts from the left direction, Qin Liangyu starts from the right direction, and Hong Chengchou starts from the middle road.

Hong Chengchou was used to this type of battle, and he was also used to leading the army alone.

Qin Liangyu was a little worse. Although he often led white soldiers in battles before, neither the importance of the battle nor the number of people in command had reached such a scale. Among them, the things that need to be paid attention to, especially emphasized the great role of artillery, and also talked with Qin Liangyu alone. This is because Qin Liangyu is not very familiar with artillery. Su Tiancheng thought about it and assigned Ma Xianglin to follow Qin Liangyu to fight, but Qin Liangyu refused. I asked Ma Xianglin to fight with the Jiangning battalion. After all, Ma Xianglin was already the guard commander of the Jiangning battalion, and he could not leave the Jiangning battalion and return to his side to fight.

As soon as the three-way army set off, it began to snow.

It has been nearly ten days since he entered the Mongolian grassland, and the weather has always been bad. This made Su Tiancheng a little annoyed. If he went on an expedition in summer and autumn, he would not encounter these problems, but time does not allow it. In summer or autumn, the Jiangning Camp His opponent is probably the Empress Jin Tartar.

Su Tiancheng's plan focused on defeating the Horqin tribe and the Chahar tribe. These two tribes had the greatest influence on the grassland. Among them, the Horqin tribe was Hou Jin's loyal ally, and the Chahar tribe was considered the most powerful. For those who are strong, as long as these two tribes are defeated, the subsequent conquests can be handed over to the Xibe tribe and the Daur tribe. Su Tiancheng only needs to do a good job in logistics and supplies.

Su Tiancheng won't be on the grassland for a long time. In half a year at most, the Jiangning camp will withdraw from the Mongolian grassland.

It seems that half a year is a long time, but in fact the time is very tight. The base of the Horqin tribe is in the eastern part of Mongolia, on the Songliao Plain, more than 1000 miles away from the Chahar tribe. It will take time to conquer the Chahar tribe. It will take at least three months to subdue the surrounding Tumed tribe and Zhungeer tribe. By that time, the Horqin tribe may have made all the preparations. It is not a simple matter to take it down quickly. something happened.

Su Tiancheng was also worried that Huang Taiji sent Manchu Eight Banners to assist in the battle. This is a completely certain thing. Once a large-scale battle starts, Huang Taiji will definitely not sit idly by, so he may lose the entire grassland. Huang Taiji couldn't bear the huge loss, and he must do his best to help the grassland tribes defeat the Jiangning camp.

It is unavoidable for the Eight Banners to participate in the battle, but how many troops Huang Taiji will send, is it going to start a decisive battle with the Jiangning battalion in the vast prairie? It will not come out in full force, so that the Jiangning battalion soldiers stationed in Fuzhou and Xuanzhou, as well as the Ming army stationed in Liaodong, can drive straight in and attack Shenyang directly, but no one can predict it. If Huang Taiji wants to understand, throw away Regardless, Shenyang sent a large army into the Mongolian grasslands to start a decisive battle with the Jiangning battalion, mainly to eliminate the vital forces of the Jiangning battalion. As for the lost city, it will be regained again in the future fighting.

The wind and snow were getting bigger and bigger, and the guides accompanying the army were a little worried.

Such a big snowstorm is not a small difficulty for the army, and it can also be said to be a disaster. Both people and horses will be affected. The guide is also very careful, for fear of misreading the path, and the surroundings are covered with snow. It is really not that easy to accurately judge the way forward.

Sun Yuankun and Liu Ji are quite familiar with this kind of climate, and they also know the impact of this kind of climate on the army, so they specially made a suggestion to Su Tiancheng, should they wait until the wind and snow are lighter and set off.

Su Tiancheng did not agree, the wind and snow were very heavy, which indeed caused some difficulties for the army to march, but such weather could confuse the Chahar tribe even more. It is estimated that the leader of the Chahar tribe would never have dreamed of it. Under such extreme weather, there will be attacks.

Things are like this, there are advantages and disadvantages, the march of the army has encountered difficulties, but the suddenness of the attack is much greater.

During the march, the hardest part is the guides and scouts.

The guide of the army was specially sent by Song Sijun, and he was absolutely trustworthy, but the guide was urgently not a sergeant, and there was still a certain gap in personal physical strength and ability. Under such circumstances, the scouts had to take care of the guide. Make sure that the guide's body can't have problems.

The whole day of marching was in the wind and snow. Seeing the large flakes of snow falling, Su Tiancheng suddenly remembered the poem he had plagiarized: A journey through the mountains, a journey through the water, walking towards the bank of Yuguan , Thousands of tent lights late at night.As soon as the wind changes, the snow changes, and the dreams of the hometown are broken, and there is no such sound in the hometown.

Surrounded by a vast expanse of whiteness, in order not to be frozen, the soldiers all dismounted and walked forward. The sound of creaking and creaking on the snow was still somewhat orderly. Under such circumstances, the marching speed was extremely slow. Su Tiancheng had no good way to deal with the huge impact. Like many soldiers, he got off his horse and walked to avoid being frozen.

The temperature at night is lower, and the guide who is familiar with the path has already found a place to camp. Under such extreme weather, there is no need to worry about the whereabouts of the army being leaked. The herdsmen on the grassland will not leave their tents. Su Tiancheng needs to worry , that is, the soldiers will not be able to suffer from frostbite. Fortunately, the army has been prepared for a long time, and boiled a lot of chili water, and the soldiers drank it to warm their bodies.

The worse the weather was, the stronger Su Tiancheng's confidence became. (To be continued..)