Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 155: Seizing the Huanghua Station

From Qingxiu Mountain to Bashizhai, it was only about 20 miles away. The personal soldiers and cavalry battalions advanced quickly, and the vanguard arrived at Bashizhai at noon. On the way, they encountered seven or eight enemy cavalrymen, who fled in all directions like frightened birds.

Danchu traveled all night last night and slept for only an hour, so he was already quite tired. Thinking that the enemy was not far away, he could not help but get excited. He rode a famous blue-gray horse "Yuconglong" and galloped to Wu Jie's side and asked:

"How many cavalrymen do you have? How's their horsepower?"

A forced march would inevitably cause soldiers to fall behind, and would also consume horsepower, greatly affecting the cavalry charge. Especially for war horses, they had to rest after a forced march and be fed with enough beans before they could gallop again.

The cavalry battalion consisted of three cavalry units, one auxiliary unit, and one artillery post, with a total strength of about 400 people, each with one horse.

Wu Jie said without hesitation: "There are more than 200 combat soldiers. The auxiliary troops arrived in time in the early morning and replenished the beans for the horses."

War horses are more delicate than cavalrymen. Cavalrymen can still eat dry food, but if war horses only eat grass and no feed, they cannot quickly recover their horsepower on the battlefield. Therefore, baggage is crucial to fighting, and sometimes it can even determine victory or defeat.

"The enemy's Tangqi has arrived, and they must have set up defenses at Bashizhai. You will immediately lead two hundred soldiers to the east, and seize Bashizhai while they are still unstable. I will lead my personal battalion to follow."

"Yes!" Wu Jie called his cavalry and rushed towards the direction of Bashizhai.

Bashizhai is an important commercial port, with its main part located on the south bank of Yujiang River and the intersection of Bashijiang River. There are not many shops and houses on the north bank of the river. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a water and land post station on the north bank of the river, called Huanghua Post Station, but it has been in disrepair for many years, with dilapidated walls and abandoned defense facilities such as watchtowers.

The enemy's Tangqi had discovered the Zhaoyong Army and reported it to the main force of the rear army. There were about thirty or forty Tangqi in Huanghua Post, trying to use the post station to stop the Zhaoyong Army.

Wu Jie was eager to seize Huanghua Station and drove his cavalry forward rapidly.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh", the enemy hiding in the post station shot a wave of arrows.

Several Zhaoyong cavalrymen were shot and fell off their horses, and the rest immediately dispersed their formation, dismounted and shot on foot. This was a common tactic used by cavalrymen, first suppressing the enemy with bows and arrows to reduce their own casualties, and then waiting for an opportunity to advance.

Wu Jie rushed over, his horse still running, and shouted to the scattered cavalrymen: "Speed ​​is of the essence in war, all of you follow me and charge."

He took the lead and rushed towards the post station in a hail of arrows, and his subordinates followed one after another. Although there were only two hundred cavalrymen, they raised a lot of dust, as if they had the momentum of thousands of troops.

"Bang bang bang", another burst of gunfire. Judging from the sound, it was obviously a three-barreled gun.

Wu Jie had already rushed to the front of the post station, but was hit by the dense rain of bullets and fell off his horse. The officer fell off his horse, and the soldiers were terrified.

The white chestnut horse also stopped in a hurry, came to Wu Jie, and rubbed its master's head with its mouth. It was lucky that it was larger than Wu Jie, but it was not hit by the bullet.

Wu Jie was shot in the shoulder. The bullet penetrated the armor and went deep into the skin, causing unbearable pain.

The three-barreled gun only had one chance to fire, and reloading was cumbersome and difficult. Wu Jie took out his sword, propped himself up, and staggered towards the post station. The morale of his men was revived, and they rushed into the post station, then dismounted and fought on foot.

The enemy's cavalry were outnumbered and abandoned the post station and fled.

The main force of the enemy must be nearby, and the cavalry battalion has too few soldiers and horses. Wu Jie was worried and ordered not to pursue them and wait for the commander-in-chief to come and take charge of the plan.

Soon, Danchu arrived with his personal soldiers. Wu Jie was bandaging his wounds and struggled to come over to ask for an audience, saying, "General, the enemy's Tangqi has three-barreled guns and bows and arrows, they are not ordinary people."

This brother is indeed a fierce general. As a battalion commander, he can lead the charge, which is not easy. "Don't worry. The personal guard battalion has arrived, and a team of musketeers from the firearm battalion has also arrived. There should be no problem in defending Huanghua Station."

Feng Jiali came to report that Xu Biao's army was approaching and the vanguard was only ten miles away from Huanghuayi.

"How many troops are there? Have you figured it out?"

"There are no less than 500 cavalry and no less than 4,000 infantry." Feng Jiali whispered, "General, this group of bandits also has four elephants."

Guangxi had many wild elephants, and the chieftains often trained elephant soldiers, which were unstoppable. In order to deal with the elephant formation of the Luchuan chieftain, Taizu ordered the establishment of the Elephant Training Guard, one of the ten guards in Guangxi. It was originally stationed in Siming Prefecture, then moved to Nanning Prefecture, and then moved to Hengzhou.

The Elephant Taming Guard initially trained elephant soldiers, but elephants are difficult to train and elephant soldiers consume a lot of energy. The energy consumption of an elephant is equivalent to that of more than a dozen good horses. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, the Elephant Taming Guard no longer trained elephant soldiers, but often organized soldiers and civilians to hunt and kill wild elephants to prevent them from harming the people.

This Xu Biao actually has elephant soldiers in his army.

"Where is Wei Guosong? Any news?"

The infantry moved slowly, and they also had to cross Chen Bangfu's territory and cooperate with Chen Bangfu's army.

"The vanguard of the First Infantry Battalion arrived in Hengzhou four days ago and fought a battle with Xu Biao the next day. The two armies fought to a draw and held each other for a day. Afterwards, the news that Kunlun Pass had fallen reached Hengzhou, and Xu Biao led his troops to retreat hastily, leaving behind 2,000 soldiers to defend Hengzhou. Chen Bangfu left troops to besiege Hengzhou, and Wei Biao led his troops to pursue Xu Biao, but was blocked by Xu's army."

After a quick calculation, Xu Biao had quite a lot of troops. Excluding the garrisons in Kunlun Pass, Nanning, Taiping, Hengzhou, Yongchun, and other places, and the troops blocking Wei Guosong, he still had 4,000 to 5,000 troops, which should not be underestimated.

Xu Biao's territory was in Nanning and Taiping. Nanning and Taiping were adjacent to Jiaozhi, and there were many chieftains who did not obey the government's orders. Xu Biao actually only controlled the two prefectures of Nanning and Taiping, as well as the three prefectures and counties around the prefectures, Xinning Prefecture, Yongchun County, and Hengzhou.

In other words, Xu Biao's funding source was only five cities, but he was able to support more than 10,000 troops. This shows how fertile Nanning is.

Looking from a high place, a road stretches far into the distance, which is the post road connecting Xunzhou and Nanning. In the distance, smoke and dust are rising, as if countless soldiers are galloping. Through the telescope, one can clearly see the Zhaoyong Army's scouts and scouts and the bandit army's cavalry fighting each other.

Looking at the terrain in the distance, the south of the post road is the northern bank of the Yujiang River. The north of the post road is the foot of Kunlun Mountain, which is already quite gentle. It is unrealistic to rely on Kunlun Mountain as a barrier. The enemy can completely disperse to the southern foot of Kunlun Mountain and cross the ridge to Nanning.

At this moment, Lian Danchu was a little hesitant, not knowing what decision to make. If he took the initiative to attack, his side was all light cavalry, and at most he could only gather 600 combat troops and 200 auxiliary troops. If he held on to the post station, there was no terrain to rely on. The artillery team had not caught up yet, and there was no artillery to defend against the enemy.

The enemy has so many soldiers and war elephants that I don’t know how to defend myself.

"What do you two think?" Dan Chu was undecided and asked Wu Jie and Feng Jiali.

Wu Jie replied: "General, the enemy outnumbers us, and the enemy is eager to return to Nanning. It is better to hold on to Huanghuayi and wait for the first infantry battalion and the firearms battalion to arrive, and then join forces to attack the enemy army."

"No," Feng Keli objected clearly, saying, "Our army is composed of cavalry, and we have been marching in a hurry. Our team is very long, and only less than a thousand people have arrived at Huanghuayi. The enemy army is composed of infantry, and they are eager to return to Nanning, so their team will only be longer.

"If we hold on to Huanghuayi, the enemy will gather more and more, and they are desperate to return home, so their momentum will be difficult to resist. It is better to take advantage of their vanguard's instability to defeat their cavalry first, and then their vanguard, then the enemy army will surely be defeated."

Dan Chu's eyes lit up, and he made up his mind resolutely, and ordered: "All troops, regardless of combat or auxiliary troops, must gather and wait for orders."

(End of this chapter)