Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 190: Half-crossing and attacking
South of Shahe, on an official road northwest of Huaining, seven thousand soldiers were marching in the chilly wind of early spring. In the middle of the ranks, a large flag of the central army fluttered in the wind. Molunchi, wearing full armor, was riding on a horse and marching with the army.

In front of the marching column, there were hundreds of vanguard cavalry scouts shuttling back and forth, protecting the safety of the army and also finding out the situation ahead for the army.

Among these 7,000 troops, 5,000 were transferred from Wangjiang County, of which only 2,000 were regular troops, and more than 1,000 of them were armored. The remaining 2,000 were from Huaining County, also regular troops, and the armor rate barely reached 80%. The number of armors in the entire army was only more than 3,400 sets, which was half.

The remaining unarmored soldiers were mostly militiamen who had been recruited for less than two or three months. They had no problem following the main force to fight some favorable battles and rob the civilians, but no one knew what would happen if a real war broke out.

As expected, as the cavalrymen in the vanguard and the following troops shuttled back and forth, many of them had some extra things on their horses' backs, mostly valuables such as cloth. Silver and money were hard to find, and other things were inconvenient to carry, so only the cloth was of value.

But when they set up camp at night, the situation was different. The villages near the Yuan army's base were in bad luck. More than 200 women were abducted to the army, and the pigs, cattle, sheep, horses, donkeys and other livestock in the nearby villages were also looted. As soon as it got dark, the smell of meat wafted through the camp. A little later, the soldiers' lewd laughter and the women's tragic wails could be heard.

Overnight, all the livestock in the two nearby villages were wiped out, some people who resisted were killed, and some villagers' houses were burned down. When the army left early the next morning, only more than 200 white corpses of women were left behind, which showed the poor discipline of the Yuan army.

In fact, the Yuan army has had this style of work for a long time. Even before suppressing the Red Turban Army, as early as the Battle of the Two Capitals more than 20 years ago, when the Yuan army was in a civil war in the country, looting was prevalent.

They don't care whether they are their own citizens or not, they will rob them anyway, and they don't discriminate between high and low status.

The most outrageous thing is that when the Dadu army was fighting with the Shangdu army in Baoding, Hebei, they actually robbed the house of the Duke of Qi of the Yuan Dynasty. He was the descendant of Zhang Hongfan, the Han general who served as the vanguard for the Yuan Dynasty to destroy the Song Dynasty, who captured Wen Tianxiang alive at Yashan and erected a monument at Yashan with the inscription "Zhang Hongfan destroyed the Song Dynasty here". This person also had a Mongolian name, Batu.

Zhang Hongfan was the Duke of Qi of the Yuan Dynasty! After his descendants’ home was robbed, the Zhang family was furious and reported it to the court. However, when the Yuan army found out, they massacred his entire family.

The Mongols don't care whether you are a descendant of the Duke of Qi or a founding hero. No matter how powerful you, Zhang Hongfan, are, in their eyes, you are just a third-class northern Han Chinese. What's more, what do Zhang Hongfan's achievements have to do with you, a descendant of the Zhang family?

During the Battle of the Two Capitals, the Yuan army was looting in the country. When it came to suppressing the Red Turban Army, military discipline was even worse. Whether it was Yesen suppressing Liu Futong or Chelibuhua suppressing Haozhou City, they both robbed the people on a large scale.

Apart from anything else, before Lu Jin attacked Luzhou, wasn't Zuo Junbi the same person? This group of people didn't have the ability to suppress bandits, but they were very bold to rob the people under the name of suppressing bandits!
The next morning, more than 200 female corpses were left in the camp. The army continued to march. Mo Lunchi stopped by the roadside on his horse, leaning on his hand to look west, and asked the scout cavalry impatiently, "Where are Li Sili, Jia Boying and others? How far are they from our army? When can they come and join our army?"

"Report! Marshal, General Li set out from Qianshan the day before yesterday and is still twenty miles away from our army. We will be able to join forces today." The scout immediately reported after hearing this.

"Okay, hurry them up and make them hurry up."

"Yes."

Seeing this, Yesen Timur quickly comforted him, "Don't worry, Marshal. From Taihu Lake to Qianshan, we travel by land all the way, so it's definitely not as fast as us. It won't matter if we travel one night.

"Besides, Tongcheng City has strong defenses, and there are 5,000 soldiers guarding it. There are also two thousand soldiers, Shao Yongjian and Ge Yanling, so it is not a problem to hold out for ten days or half a month. Our army just needs to advance steadily and must not lose its composure. If there is a gap between the left and right armies, it will be easy for the enemy to take advantage of it.

"I suggest that even if we reach Shahe tomorrow, we should not advance too hastily. We should organize our troops south of Shahe before crossing the river to meet the enemy."

Molenchi nodded upon hearing this and did not object. He was the Darughachi of the Anqing Road Record Office, and his official position was indeed not low, but he was not very good at fighting. Alchangpu asked him to come here just to play a supervisory role and use his status to suppress and unify the generals from all directions to prevent them from disobeying. In fact, the entire combat operation still had to listen to the deputy general Yesen Timur in front of him.

Although this man had the same name as the younger brother of the prime minister of the time, Toghto, he was not a fool like Toghto's brothers. He had some ability in marching and fighting. During the entire march, the camps and marches of various units were arranged in an orderly manner. There were cavalry scouts and guards in front, and the front army was required to wear armor and march on duty, ready to deal with any enemies they might encounter at any time.

In view of the talent this man had shown in the past two days, Molunchi was willing to give him this face and immediately asked, "Organize the army on the south bank first? How do you plan to organize the army?"

"My lord, our army has 15,000 soldiers. It would be best if we divide them into five armies: front, back, left, right and center. The front army should have 4,000 men, the rear army should have 2,000 men, the left and right wings should have 3,000 men each, and the center army should also have 3,000 men. Each army should have a main general and a deputy general, and the two of them should lead them together. Only in this way can we form a good formation and perform our duties, so that we won't panic when the battle comes." Yesen Timur replied immediately.

Mo Lunchi nodded repeatedly after hearing this plan, and couldn't help but praise, "Yes, I heard that the Luzhou Red Turbans are not afraid of fighting, and they once faced off against Kang Maocai's army in Chao County and defeated them with one blow. It can be seen that they are quite capable. We must not underestimate them just because they are bandits.

"When we gather the troops tomorrow, I will arrange the generals. Deputy General Yesen will have to figure out how to organize the army."

"This is what I should do, don't worry, Marshal."

"it is good."

In the evening of that day, the 8,000 troops from the west who were taking the Taihu and Qianshan lines finally joined forces with Molenchi's army. The two armies had a total of 15,000 troops, and their connected marching column was endless.

After setting up camp that night, the entire army was less than ten miles away from the wooden bridge in the middle reaches of the Sha River. If everything went well, they would be able to cross the river by noon tomorrow at the latest.

Molenchi summoned all the generals to the central army tent for a meeting, and asked Yesen Timur to divide the army into five parts. He personally appointed the generals of each army and asked them to adjust the marching and river crossing sequence for tomorrow to avoid chaos.

Finally, it was decided that the central army of 3,000 people would be led by Molunchi and Yesen Timur; the front army of 4,000 people would be led by Li Sili and Jia Boying, with Li Sili as the main general and Jia Boying as the deputy general.

The left army had 3,000 men, with Li Jin as the commander-in-chief and Zhang Bin as the deputy commander-in-chief; the right army had 3,000 men, with Hong Bao as the commander-in-chief and Yao Zhu as the deputy commander-in-chief.

The rear army consisted of 2,000 men, with Jin Siyuan as the main general and Lu Zhong as the deputy general.

The marching order for tomorrow will be the front army, the left army, the center army, the right army, and the rear army. Each army will march in turn, and the order for crossing the river will follow the same rule.

The front army also sent a centurion, Lü Chonglu, to serve as the vanguard of the follow-up army. All of them were dressed in armor and led the way for the entire army.

Seeing that Yesen Timur had organized his army in an orderly manner, Molenchi was very satisfied and fell asleep peacefully. He thought that after crossing the river tomorrow, they would be able to reach Tongcheng after walking for two or three days. He hoped that Shao Yongjian and Ge Yanling could hold on and not let the Red Turban bandits in Luzhou break the city easily. By then, if the enemy controlled the city and then they could line up against the city to fight the enemy, the Yuan army would be in a passive position.

At the same time, the Red Scarf Bandits mentioned by Morn Chi were also excitedly discussing the current situation.

"Marshal, the enemy has reached the south bank of Shahe River ten miles away. If nothing unexpected happens, they will be able to cross the river at the wooden bridge at noon tomorrow." Zhang Desheng immediately reported the situation excitedly.

"Alas, we have been preparing in Zongyang for so long. It seems that they are determined to cross the river upstream. If we wait foolishly in the ambush in Qingshan, I am afraid that my 12th Regiment will not get a chance to fight this time." Mr. Miao, who had already rushed to the reunion, complained dissatisfiedly when he heard that the enemy was really going to cross the river upstream.

Guo Zixing was relieved and said immediately, "I think the situation is better now. There are 15,000 soldiers gathered on the other side. If you and I continue to fight alone, how can we stop the enemy with only 4,000 soldiers each?
"Not only will we fail to complete the mission assigned by the commander-in-chief and the commander-in-chief, but we may even get ourselves killed. Isn't it better for our two regiments to fight side by side now?"

Lu Jin ignored them. When he learned that the enemy was less than ten miles away from the wooden bridge, he immediately asked Yang Huan who was following him, "Have you chosen a location for the artillery position?"

Yang Huan immediately clasped his fists respectfully and said, "Reporting to the Marshal, I have already chosen it. It is on a small mound next to the woods northeast of the wooden bridge. Although it is not very high, it is the only commanding height nearby. Setting the gun position there can give us a greater advantage in range. The side facing the Shahe River also has a very wide firing range. I have also marked the terrain in advance and drawn the scale.

“In addition, I also prepared a semi-buried gun position there. I first dug a hole on the mound and hid the gun carriage inside. Only a gun barrel and half a human figure were exposed outside. Some branches were covered on top, making it very concealed. The mules and horses pulling the gun carriage could also hide in the woods behind.

"It will take longer to switch to a marching posture if the artillery position is just set there. If the enemy attacks the artillery position, it will take us longer to move."

Lu Jin nodded and praised, "You did a great job. During the war, I will have the cavalry try to buy you time. Even if you really have to abandon the cannon, you must destroy it first. It must not fall into the hands of the enemy intact. Remember to keep two portions of gunpowder for each cannon to blow up the cannon."

"Yes." Although Yang Huan was a little reluctant, he had no choice but to agree.

Lu Jin then waved his hand and said, "Go ahead, start preparing your gun positions now, assign targets in advance for aiming, and hide well. When I give you a signal, you must fire immediately!"

"Yes, Marshal, don't worry." Yang Huan agreed and immediately took his artillery team to make arrangements.

Miao Daheng was a little doubtful and said, "Marshal, I know a little about firearms. Can we really block the wooden bridge and prevent the enemy from crossing the river with just those ten big guns, two miles away?"

Lu Jin didn't scold them. After all, this kind of firearm was his "first invention". It was normal that they didn't know the power of the artillery. He could only explain.

"In fact, if we only want to block the bridge and prevent the enemy from coming, two cannons are enough. I brought ten cannons here, firstly because that is all we have now, and secondly, to verify the power of the artillery in the military formation. Thirdly, the more cannons are actually used to break the formation.

"You two regiments are still trained according to the previous tactics of driving chariots to force the enemy and breaking the enemy's formation with close-range shooting, so you don't know much about the Guards. The Guards have been completely reorganized and replaced with new tactics and weapons. This time we are to verify the feasibility of the Guards' new tactics. You will know when the battle starts."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Miao was immediately furious. It turned out that the thing Lu Jin made was just for trial. He didn't even know if it would work, but he was betting on the artillery. What would he do if the artillery didn't work?
However, seeing that Lu Jin was very confident, he didn't know what to say. Fortunately, the gap in the strength of the two sides was not very big. Their side launched a surprise attack halfway across the river and had the advantage of the first move. Even if the artillery team was ineffective, it all depended on their two regiments. At worst, they could end up in a draw, so Mr. Miao was not too worried.

When Guo Zixing heard that Lu Jin was reforming the tactics of the Imperial Guard, he immediately became more concerned. His own official position did not matter, but he had three sons, all young, and it should be easy for them to learn.

Besides, he has two daughters who can be married off. By using his connections, he can let his sons learn the new tactics, and they should be able to be valued. Didn't you see that the artillery commanders Lu Jinzhao were so young? The oldest was only sixteen or seventeen years old. It was obvious that he was making use of young people.

So Guo Zixing immediately asked, "General, how are we going to cooperate with the artillery tomorrow? Should we follow the previous training, use the chariot to force the enemy, and then use close range shooting to destroy the enemy's formation?"

Lu Jin also wanted to use the new tactics directly, but he knew the training situation of the two troops. It was too late to change the tactics temporarily. The soldiers had not been trained, so he thought about it before speaking.

"Yes, we will still use the tactics you have trained, but there is one thing. When we fight tomorrow, we will first use the cavalry to meet the enemy. After we lure the enemy to line up by the river, I will have the artillery attack. When the artillery sounds, both of your regiments will appear and line up to meet the enemy.

"We will march in the battle posture we trained before, with the chariots in the front, the archers in the second row, and the riflemen in the back row. The speed will be faster than usual.

"But there is one thing you need to pay attention to. That is, the enemy's formation is likely to collapse prematurely under the attack of artillery. Once the enemy is defeated, you must lead the spearmen to speed up and overtake the carts, and directly attack the enemy formation with the spear phalanx. It is estimated that by then it will be like chasing ducks, and you will directly chase the defeated enemy soldiers away."

The generals present all looked at each other in bewilderment when they heard this. They thought that Lu Jin's statement was a bit too bizarre. Ten cannons could cause the enemy's formation to collapse? If the cannons were really that powerful, then their tactics of using chariots to cover and force the enemy would indeed be useless. I'm afraid that after this battle, they would have to train new tactics.

Zhang Desheng then asked, "Marshal, we only have two regiments. The enemy must be in a square formation or a moon formation. The enemy is backed by the Shahe River and can only attack from three sides. Our two regiments cannot attack from three sides at the same time. How should we fight then?"

Lu Jin didn't even think about it this time, or rather, he had already thought about this problem before, and made arrangements immediately.

"Let's follow the old method we used when we fought Kang Maocai. No matter whether it is a square formation or a circular formation, since we only have two regiments, we will just attack from both sides.

"When fighting a siege like this, we must remember to surround three sides and leave one side open. There is a river behind the enemy, so we must not surround them completely and drive them into the river. That will only put the enemy in an unfavorable situation of 'fighting with their backs to the river'. Instead, it is more likely to inspire the enemy's fighting spirit and force them to fight desperately. So we have to leave them a gap and force them to flee!
"It is definitely not a good idea to run south. If they do that, their defeated soldiers will run all the way back to Congyang or Anqing along the river, which will save them and increase their defense force, which will be disadvantageous to our subsequent battles. Therefore, we should force the enemy to run north.

“As they went north along the Shahe River, there was no place to cross the river. It was not easy for them to run back to the south bank. Even if some of them could swim, few of them could escape. The remaining defeated soldiers could only continue to advance westward along the river.

"But there was no large town upstream that could provide them with supplies and defense, so they could only flee all the way and were eventually completely annihilated by our army.

“So tomorrow we will attack only the east and north. The east will be our main attack, and we must break through the enemy formation and drive them north. The north will face the enemy head-on, and we just need to stop them from rushing out.

"Who of you two will be the main attacker? Who will be the supporting one?" Lu Jin asked Miao Daheng and Guo Zixing.

"Let me take the lead in the attack! Commander Guo at least brought a group of troops to the Marshal, which can be considered a contribution. But since I joined the Marshal's army, I have not made any contribution. Brother Guo, please don't compete with me this time!" said Mr. Miao immediately to grab the task.

Guo Zixing naturally didn't want to fight to the death, so he was happy to agree to the offer to be the main attacker. Moreover, in his opinion, there was not much difference between the main attacker and the auxiliary attacker. It was a large formation of tens of thousands of people, and the intensity of the head-on confrontation might not be any less than that of the side attack, so he agreed immediately.

"Then let me congratulate Brother Miao in advance on his new achievement!" Guo Zidang improvised and clasped his fists.

"Okay, then both of you can prepare yourself." Lu Jin nodded, then looked at Ye Sheng beside him and asked, "Ye Sheng, how are your preparations going?"

"Reporting to the commander, we have left a company of 200 cavalry here, and the remaining 600-plus cavalry are hiding on the opposite side. I can't say whether they can be used to break the formation, but we can still keep entangled with them and delay the time." Ye Sheng replied immediately.

"Okay, then we just have to wait for the enemy to deliver us a head!"

(End of this chapter)