Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 425: Dragon Riders
The steward can help Dayan guard the camp. His qualifications and experience are beyond the reach of ordinary military generals.

At that time, he was not very old, and the Khoshut tribe's activities were still in the plains north of the Tianshan Mountains.

During that period, their situation was really like being surrounded by powerful enemies and facing internal and external troubles.

There is no need to say much about the Dzungar Khanate, which also belonged to the Oirat Khanate. Although the competition for the leader was fierce, it was ultimately under control.

The key is that the wars with the Khalkha, Kazakh, Yarkand and other large and small tribes were fought one after another, which made the Khoshut overwhelmed and exhausted.

In order to survive, they had to seek help from outside forces, and distant Russia also intervened.

Although they did not openly submit to Russia due to the Khan's stubbornness, when the Tsar went to war with other countries, the tribes had to send troops to participate in the battle.

Dragoon.

A name he would never forget.

During this cooperation with Russia, the manager came into contact with this amazing type of troops for the first time.

Those cavalrymen armed with muskets not only had an extremely long range and powerful lethality, but their mobility was also maximized because they were not burdened by armor.

The steward naturally knew nothing about the origin of the name Dragoon. He only remembered those thrilling battle scenes and those brave warriors who fell in front of the Dragoon formation.

But when these dusty memories reappeared in his mind, his life had already come to an end, and he would no longer have the chance to explore the truth and answers to these past events.

"Oh!"

With a dull thud, the manager fell heavily to the ground, followed by the wailing of war horses and the howling of soldiers, and his eyes finally closed completely.

"Rotate!"

At this time, the first round of shooting by the Ming army had stopped. When this sound was heard, the cavalry in the front row immediately crouched down and retreated to the rear along the edge of the formation. Then the soldiers in the back row had their vision widened, and the sound of a burst of musket fire immediately echoed over the battlefield.

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

As the muskets were fired, the enemy soldiers fell to the ground in large numbers like wheat being cut by a sickle. After seeing that the Mongols seemed to be fleeing backwards, Li Chengdong pressed his hand forward, and then the third row of soldiers rode out of the line.

After all, Li Chengdong was born in the Nine Frontiers, so he naturally had some understanding of the Mongolian people's temperament.

He knew very well that every time they went into battle, the Mongols would bring enough cattle, sheep and other livestock for the army's needs. As long as the camps where these were stored were destroyed, no matter how many Mongols had, they would have no choice but to turn around and escape.

For such an important place, the Mongols either left it far behind or placed it under heavy protection. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack to destroy it in normal times.

But then again, this place is not an endless grassland after all. The Hanzhong Plain is only this small, and behind it are mountain roads that stretch for hundreds of miles.

The Mongols had no choice but to carry it with them.

With this understanding, Li Chengdong’s choice is not difficult to guess.

After rejecting the proposal of Yang Zhan and other generals yesterday, he dispersed all the elite scouts in the army. After a night of exploration, they finally found the location of the camp early this morning.

To be honest, he didn't know where his Majesty learned this tactic from, nor did he know how powerful this tactic would be when fighting against the enemy.

But the situation has come to this point, and he has to go through this process no matter what. Otherwise, a surrendered general like him who has done nothing of note will find it difficult to find a place to stay.

Fortunately, the tactics set by Your Majesty were quite effective, and all the training for such a long time was not in vain.

When they encountered the first batch of Mongolian cavalry coming to intercept them, the army formation composed of 2,000 musket cavalry actually knocked the enemy soldiers to the ground with just two rounds of shooting.

Faced with this situation, Li Chengdong was quite surprised. He had thought about how he would break through the enemy's baggage camp after a bloody battle, and he had also thought about how he would try his best but end up returning empty-handed.

But he never expected that the battle would be won so easily. Except for a few unlucky guys who were hit by stray arrows, they did not suffer much casualties after being defeated twice in a row.

At this point, Li Chengdong's confidence was overflowing. In addition, he had sent a team of a thousand people to burn down the Mongolian baggage camp. When he saw the enemy soldiers were in disarray, he immediately led the knights to rush out.

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

As the sound of the third round of muskets was fired, the Mongolian cavalry who were already fleeing fell down again. The soldiers who were carefully loading ammunition afterwards slowed down, while those who had already finished loading were once again at the forefront of the formation.

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

"Marshal! Please move aside!"

Just as the sound of muskets firing rang out again, a loud shout came from behind Li Chengdong. When he turned around, he saw a general following closely behind him, and the muzzle of the opponent's gun was slightly lowered, obviously worried that he would be hit by accident.

Seeing this, Li Chengdong's face turned red, but the warhorse under him did not slow down at all.

Are you kidding? He is the commander of this cavalry. If he hides in the back, how can he identify the current situation in the first place?

Besides, he didn't waste any time at all, and it would only take one or two breaths to complete the filling.

Under such circumstances, asking him to give way to others is simply a pipe dream!
"Get out of the way!"

After cursing viciously, Li Chengdong raised the musket, but the muzzle was not pointed directly at the enemy soldiers in the distance, but slightly raised.

He wasn't quite sure why the muzzle of the gun had to be slightly raised, but based on past experience, he thought it was the same principle as shooting an arrow.

He did not find those wild ideas of His Majesty so strange. After all, the workshop in Yingtian had become like that under His Majesty's arrangement. If he had not seen it once when he received the equipment, he would never have dreamed that there would be so many strange things.

"Bah!"

As the sound of muskets being fired rang out again, Li Chengdong couldn't help but look forward, but at this time the enemy's formation had become unusually sparse after several rounds of shooting, and his firing did not achieve any results.

Seeing this, he knew there was no need to chase any further, so he shouted loudly, and the cavalry team of more than a thousand people made a circle and went straight to the enemy camp.

"Form a formation!" Because of the previous pursuit, the team had lost its formation, but after this call was heard, the team of more than a thousand people gradually formed into several long snake formations.

This is the result of more than half a year of training.

Although the knights under Li Chengdong's command could not perform all kinds of fancy moves like the Mongolian cavalry who grew up on horseback, they had no problem forming a simple formation while riding.

A distance of several miles was just a moment for the warhorse. By the time the formation was barely formed, flames rising into the sky had already appeared in his sight.

The camp was in a mess at this time, filled with the wailing of cattle and sheep and the screams of people in fear.

Wherever the cavalry's horses stepped, dust flew and blood splattered. The cattle and sheep on which the herdsmen depended for their survival fled in all directions, but they could not escape the sharp swords and spears of the Ming army.

The herdsmen were frightened by the sudden attack and were in a panic. Even though these cattle and sheep were their means of survival, under the watchful eyes of the Ming cavalry, they could only watch the cattle and sheep being killed without any ability to resist.

Most of the soldiers who followed Li Chengdong focused their attention on the burning felt tents, but he was most concerned about the killing of livestock.

After defeating the first batch of Mongolian cavalry that came to intercept him, he realized the true combat power of his own troops. He then decisively divided his troops, with one team responsible for blocking the reinforcements and the other team heading straight for the camp.

At this time, the troops had been fighting their way into the camp for quite some time. Even though the blood had already formed a stream, the cattle and sheep running scattered on the ground were still as numerous as the stars in the sky, as if they could never be stopped.

"I'm afraid it's too late. Let's gather."

Seeing this, Li Chengdong felt extremely regretful, but he knew that reinforcements would arrive in a flash, so after a while he gave the order to retreat to the generals beside him.

This attack was undoubtedly a success. Li Chengdong's troops not only successfully destroyed the Khoshut people's baggage camp, but also verified the strength of the new army through actual combat.

However, after hundreds of miles of raids and repeated battles, the ammunition reserves could not support combat of too high intensity.

As the military order was issued, the soldiers who were still setting fire and killing people in the camp all came over to the main group with a look of unsatisfied desire.

After this devastation, the flames in the camp had already shot up into the sky. Except for the cattle, sheep and other livestock that were still in a daze, the herdsmen and soldiers had already fled without a trace.

At this point, Li Chengdong's regret finally dissipated a little, but when the troops from various camps were about to gather into an army, a general rushed over.

"General, the Tartars have captured many civilians. Should we protect them and return them to the interior?"

"Confused!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Chengdong's scolding followed. After taking a look at the people who were trapped in the fence like livestock, he continued: "We have destroyed Dayan's lair, how can he let us go? If we take the people with us, won't we be wiped out?!"

According to Li Chengdong's temperament, if his direct subordinate said such stupid things, he would probably be whipped twice, but this person was sent by the Advisory Council, and when he saw that the other party was hesitant, he patiently explained.

"You have also seen battles with His Majesty, how come you still don't understand the situation? The Tartars are now focused on us, and the people can only survive by fleeing to the mountains and forests!"

"The Marshal is wise! I am the one who is confused."

As soon as the words fell, the general suddenly realized what was going on. He then clenched his fist and rode his horse towards the people, obviously agreeing with the judgment of his commander-in-chief.

Li Chengdong's idea is certainly not as simple as it sounds, but it is undeniable that if the people follow them, they will surely die.

However, they had already wasted a lot of time killing livestock, and they didn't know whether they could get out before the enemy soldiers joined together.
-
"what?!"

After a cry of surprise, Dayan suddenly felt dizzy. If the soldiers around him had not been quick-witted and quick-handed, he would have staggered a few steps.

Yesterday he promised Luo Luohun to send troops to protect the Qing army's food supply route, but he didn't expect that the camp where the captured cattle and sheep were stored was broken into by the Ming army the next day.

He was not a man who would underestimate the enemy. Even though the Ming army no longer had the might it once had, and even though the entire area west of the plain was filled with his troops, Dayan still set up his camp with great caution among the armies in order to ensure a secure supply of military supplies.

But who would have thought
"Elaborate."

At this moment, Dayan seemed to have suffered a great blow, and even his voice was a little weak. However, the soldier who came to report the news could not conceal it, and after a little hesitation, he told the whole process.

"Three quarters ago, the commander of the Lut tribe encountered the Ming army's dragoons."

"Dragoon?!"

"Yes, the Ming army was not equipped with matchlock guns."

"Two thousand?!"

"Yes."

The two consecutive exclamations fully expressed Dayan's shock, and it was obvious that he was not completely ignorant of this type of soldier.

Although he was very young at the time, as the eldest son of the Khan, he had an extraordinary understanding of the situation around him.

He knew that as early as a hundred years ago, a country called France in faraway Europe had moved musketeers onto war horses during the Italian War, and that several countries that often dealt with Russia had begun to replace ordinary cavalry with dragoons.

He even knew that Gustav II, who often fought against the Tsar, had defeated several countries with the power of his dragoons since he was a crown prince.

Because of this, he had dreamed more than once of equipping all his cavalrymen with muskets as dragoons, but reality was always far from his dreams.

The Russians were extremely wary of the Mongolian tribes. Not only were they unwilling to sell them the flintlock rifles that they were just beginning to equip on a large scale, but they also controlled the old-fashioned matchlock rifles.

Without flintlock rifles, there was naturally no way to form dragoons. Even if Dayan had other ideas, he could only bury them deep in his heart.

What he didn't know was that a hundred years later, when the Russians were annexing the Mongolian tribes, they collided with the Qing Dynasty, which had just solved its internal problems.

Later, the Russians relaxed their control over firearms of the Dzungar tribe, which eventually caused great trouble to the Qing Dynasty.

During those wars, the Qing emperors clearly realized that horse riding and archery were nothing compared to firearms, and their fear of the large numbers of Han people turned into terror.

Later, the Manchu rulers' control over thought and culture extended from anti-Qing to all aspects of social life, and finally reached its peak when they compiled the Siku Quanshu.

However, at the moment, the Qing Dynasty only believed that the Ming army's advantage was in areas with dense water networks. Once they reached the plains, the Mongolian cavalry alone would be able to completely lock down the Ming army without them having to take action themselves.

No matter what, the Khoshut are a tribe that have seen the world, and there is a world of difference between them and those in the south and north of the desert.

When Dayan confirmed that the Ming cavalry were dragoons equipped with flintlock rifles, his mind immediately became active.

"Order! All units rush to Yangping Pass as quickly as possible. No matter what the cost, all Ming cavalry must be captured!"

(End of this chapter)