Fu Shanhe

Chapter 278: Thousands of horses galloping and burning camps

Everyone is familiar with night attack tactics.

They have all been personally involved in the past few years.

At this point, as soon as the White Lotus rebels discovered Li Mu's army, they would immediately strengthen their camp security.

It’s not that the night attack tactics have lost their effectiveness, but that the difficulty of implementation has increased greatly.

Now that we have arrived in the north, we are encountering the Northern Barbarians, with whom we have never fought before, and the situation has changed again.

From the invasion until now, no Dayu army has dared to raid the camp.

Even if the enemy is prepared, they won't take it too seriously.

Long-distance marches are also very physically demanding.

The fact that the Northern Tartar cavalry did not launch an attack immediately but chose to stay outside the city of Jinan to rest also illustrates the problem from the side.

"Admiral Li, what is the probability of successfully stealing the camp tonight?"

Marquis Wuyang asked with concern.

Compared with the unfamiliar generals below, he was more willing to trust Li Mu's judgment.

"My Lord, there is at least a 60% chance of winning.

The advantage of cavalry over infantry is mainly on plains.

The situation is different at night. It is pitch dark and the battlefield is confined to the camp.

Even if the enemy reacted, they would not be able to take advantage of their cavalry.

On certain battlefields, elite infantry can counteract the immobile cavalry.

The goal of a night attack is not to kill as many enemy soldiers as possible, but to kill their horses."

Li Mu replied calmly.

Unlike the enemies encountered in the past, the Northern Tartar cavalry in this era is definitely the first-class elite.

If we don't get rid of their war horses first, the initiative of the war will always be in the hands of the enemy.

In fact, the enemy's cavalry was not only powerful, the Northern Tartars' infantry was equally strong.

Especially in the use of firearms, they surpassed many government troops.

What’s funny is that most of these firearms were looted from Yu’s army, and only a small part was purchased through smuggling.

Up to now, the Northern Tartars can only carry out simple repairs on firearms, and the production of gunpowder is also pitifully low.

Theoretically, as long as Dayu blocks the inflow of materials, the Northern Tartars will collapse within three years.

However, these are only theories. Given the corruption in Dayu's officialdom, there is nothing that cannot be sold as long as enough money is paid.

The interest groups that collude with officials and businessmen only care about how much they can make from it, and they don't care about the life and death of the imperial court.

If Dayu really collapses one day, they will indeed be sad.

But he was not sad about the broken country, but sad about the loss of his own financial resources.

Those who can make it in official circles are not fools.

Everyone knows that after the change of imperial power, they, the old ministers of the previous dynasty, will not be able to enjoy the current treatment.

They still choose to act as parasites, not because they are stupid, but because they want to maximize their benefits.

In the eyes of many officials, even if they do not ask for help, others will.

Since Dayu is destined to be hollowed out, it is better to benefit yourself than to benefit others.

As for what happens next, just don’t think about it and pretend it doesn’t exist.

Besides, even if Dayu collapses, it won’t end so quickly. Maybe I won’t even see it in my lifetime.

Perhaps when they were young, they were ambitious and wanted to change everything, but after being in officialdom for a long time, they will eventually become ordinary people.

Including Li Mu himself, he just wanted to keep himself safe.

To turn the tide, one would have to go against the entire bureaucracy.

The social contradictions in Dayu are not only a problem of official corruption, but are essentially the result of the rapid growth of the ruling group.

In the early years of the founding of the country, there were less than a hundred royal relatives, and the nobles and relatives who joined him to conquer the world added up to only tens of thousands of people.

Now this group has expanded to millions.

Dayu can definitely afford to support all these people.

What is really tricky is the growing group of bureaucrats and gentry.

The number of this group is several times larger than that of the royal family's relatives.

What’s worse is that the number of these interest groups is still increasing, doubling every few decades.

For many officials, if they cannot continue to expand their family businesses and pass them on to future generations, they will become ordinary people.

However, land wealth does not fall from the sky.

When productivity is limited, everyone is competing for existing resources.

Whether it is official struggles or collusion with merchants to smuggle, it is all for profit.

It's just that some are put on the surface, and more are hidden in the dark, and everyone understands it tacitly.

“With a 60% chance of winning, it’s definitely worth taking the risk.

However, the defenders in the city cannot be relied upon. Unless the situation becomes clear, they dare not go out of the city to kill the enemy.

In this war, we can only rely on ourselves."

Marquis Wuyang thought for a moment and said.

He undoubtedly understands his colleagues better than he does fighting wars.

It is better to expect a meteor to fall from the sky and take the enemy away directly than to expect the officials in Jinan city to consider the overall situation and send troops to support in time.

“My Lord, it’s actually better without their help.

If those guys come out to cause trouble and the Northern Tartars seize Jinan, it will be a bad ending.”

Li Mu said with a smile.

It’s not that he looks down on his colleagues, but the credit for this achievement should be taken alone by the army that supports the king.

Only by defeating the enemy alone can the battle report be written according to his will.

He had done this kind of thing of falsely reporting casualties countless times, and he didn't mind doing it again.

The army that came to support the king paid a heavy price and defeated the Northern Tartar cavalry, which was in line with the expectations of all parties.

The heads of the Northern Tartars need to be pickled and preserved, waiting for the Ministry of War to verify their military achievements, but our own people need to be buried in peace.

Even if the Ministry of War finds something wrong, they may go to dig up the grave and perform an autopsy.

After the war, the army entered a rest period, and an accident occurred in Qufu, so he could not be held responsible.

……

At midnight, the patrolling soldiers began to yawn in twos and threes.

"The captain is really strict, not letting us sleep in the middle of the night.

We have to go out on patrol every day, but we don’t even see a single ghost.

I think instead of wasting time, they might as well go and rob a few villages.

By then, I will sleep on a warm kang, hugging…"

The young man said indignantly.

“Arata, stop talking nonsense.

If it weren't for your mouth, we would all be sleeping in the tent now, and we wouldn't have to get up in the middle of the night to patrol!"

Ulrich scolded immediately.

Where there are people, there will be disputes.

Arata couldn't control his mouth and accidentally offended his boss, which brought bad luck to their entire team.

If they hadn't grown up together and had a good relationship with each other, Arata would have been beaten long ago.

However, although he scolded him, deep down in his heart, Ulrich agreed with him.

Patrolling is completely unnecessary. The cowards in the Yu army always run away when they see them.

Since they crossed the Great Wall and snatched the goods all the way here, they have not encountered any decent resistance.

In his opinion, the Dayu army can do nothing but defend the city.

"You two stop arguing, there seems to be some noise outside!"

The slightly older sergeant began to scold.

But although he spoke sternly, he had no intention of going over to check.

According to past experience, most of the creatures that come out at this time are wild beasts.

If you encounter them during the day, you can go hunting to improve your food supply, but forget about it at night.

It was pitch dark and leaving the camp was not an option.

Night blindness is not only suffered by the soldiers of the Yu army, they are no exception.

They had plenty of meat and fish during the war, but once they returned to Liaodong, these low-level soldiers could only eat coarse food.

Not having enough to eat and being hungry is the norm.

No matter how much spoils were looted, the top leaders would take the lion's share, and they would just get a share.

The prices in Liaodong are high. If you don't save money and tighten your belt, you'll be in trouble when a disaster strikes.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

The crossbow arrow pierced through his heart, and Arata shouted with his last bit of strength:

"Enemy attack!"

A squad of soldiers was wiped out, announcing the start of the night raid.

On the arrow tower, the Northern Tartar soldiers who discovered something was wrong immediately sounded the gongs and drums.

However, at this time, the army that came to support the king had already entered the camp.

"Don't get entangled here, release the enemy's warhorse first!"

Qin Tianrui gave the order decisively. This opportunity was snatched from his colleagues.

Whether we can restore the glory of our ancestors depends on this battle.

If he could defeat the enemy, he would be the rising general of Dayu.

With the support of the noble group behind the scenes, after accumulating more merits, he might be able to inherit the title of Duke of Xingguo.

Similar cases occurred many times during the Dayu Dynasty.

All the male descendants of the direct line were killed, and the collateral line was five generations older than the previous one, losing the qualification to inherit the title.

In order to demonstrate his great grace, the emperor would also choose an outstanding young man from his collateral family to inherit the title.

Even if the emperor doesn't remember it, the noble group will find a way to push it forward for their own interests.

No one knows when an accident will happen.

Helping others is helping yourself.

If your family encounters this kind of thing a few generations later, you can follow the old rules.

If you are lucky, the family business will still be in the hands of your descendants.

However, this is obviously not what the civil servants want to see, so they naturally strongly oppose it.

Unless the emperor pushes strongly, the only chance for the collateral descendants to inherit the title is to make great contributions.

Even so, this is much easier than starting from scratch to strive for military merit and title.

With such great benefits, the competition is bound to be fierce.

Influenced by the explosion in Beijing, there were many children of noble families who had similar experiences and wanted to revive their family businesses.

Being able to get the opportunity, in addition to excellent personal performance, is more due to connections.

But this opportunity will only come once.

There are so many children of nobles who need to be trained, and the powerful nobles must also give priority to taking care of their own people.

Perhaps this is not the only way to revive the family business, but it is the best shortcut.

In order to ensure that everything went smoothly, Qin Tianrui bet all his family assets on it.

The people around him were all from the same clan, all of them were his relatives.

……

"What's going on outside?"

Erdun asked angrily.

In his dream, he was being crowned king and appointed prime minister, on his way to the peak of his life, when he was suddenly awakened by shouts of killing, and he was filled with rage.

“Wan Hu, the enemy is attacking our camp.

But don't worry, the small number of Yu troops will not be able to accomplish anything.

The soldiers on duty should be able to handle it."

The answer from the personal soldier made Erdun's expression ease a little.

He had seen too many of the Yu troops inside the pass along the way.

Many times, a few Tatar cavalrymen were able to chase thousands of Yu troops.

Along the way, they gathered tens of thousands of surrendered soldiers.

According to past experience, these guys will become qualified cannon fodder with just a little training.

If he had not been in a hurry to attack Jinan Prefecture this time, he would have brought a group of cannon fodder to attack the city.

"Ok!"

“Let the men below capture a few prisoners and find out who the enemy general leading the troops tonight is.

With such courage, he must be no unknown person.

Following the corrupt Dayu is a complete waste of talent.

The Great Chanyu is eager to seek talents, if there is a chance later, try to capture this person alive."

Erdun thought for a moment and said.

The Tatar tribe has a limited population, and has been able to reach its current stage only by absorbing outstanding people from various tribes.

Especially the military generals who are good at fighting are very popular.

"As ordered!"

……

Before the order was sent out, chaos in the camp had already spread.

The earth-shaking shouts and crackling explosions made Erdun realize that the situation was not good.

As soon as I walked out of the general’s camp, I was stunned by the scene in front of me.

He saw a group of war horses, with a string of exploding firecrackers hanging from their tails, rushing towards him.

The frightened warhorse didn't distinguish between friend and foe at this moment, and started charging in one direction.

Many Tatars who had just woken up from their sleep and were ready to meet the enemy were knocked away by their own horses without knowing what was happening.

If encountering the enemy, Erdun would lead his troops to kill without hesitation.

As Wan Hu, he had been through hundreds of battles and had crawled out of a pile of dead bodies.

But now he is facing a group of war horses, their own war horses.

If you kill him, you will lose your own wealth.

If left unchecked, the camp would fall into even greater chaos.

"Go and control the warhorse!"

In a panic, Erdun instinctively gave the order.

Some brave Tatar soldiers risked their lives grabbing the reins and trying to calm their horses, but were carried away.

It can't be stopped. It can't be stopped at all.

No matter how brave the soldiers are, it will be futile if they encounter groups of frightened war horses.

"Wan Hu, get out of the way!"

Realizing that the situation was out of control, the loyal captain of the personal guards led his men to pull Erdun away and avoid being trampled by the war horses.

However, the camp at this time had already turned into a sea of ​​fire.

The galloping war horses overturned one camp after another.

Many braziers were knocked over, turning the camp into a living hell.

Countless Tatar soldiers escaped the trampling of war horses, but could not escape the unexpected fire.

"Quickly evacuate the camp!"

Erdun used his remaining sanity to give the order to abandon the camp.

There was no way to put out the fire. Fueled by the southeast wind, the fire was engulfing the entire camp.

Such a big fire cannot be put out by human power alone.

……

The changes outside the city soon attracted the attention of the defenders.

The news was reported all the way to the governor's office. Jia Xiaochen, who was pulled out of his sleep, had a terribly gloomy face.

"Governor, good news!"

"Outside the city, there was shouting and screaming from the enemy camp, and now there was a huge fire.

I think it should be the troops led by Marquis Wuyang who launched a surprise attack on the enemy camp.

If we send out troops to support them at this time, we will be able to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop..."

Before the young general could finish, Jia Xiaochen interrupted:

"I have issued an order. No matter what happens outside the city, you are not allowed to attack without authorization.

Are you treating this as wind in your ears?

What if this is a deliberate plot by the enemy?
Don't forget, Marquis Wuyang didn't inform us that he was going to attack the camp tonight!"

Of course he wanted to gain military merit, but he still knew the quality of the defenders in the city.

If it was really Marquis Wuyang who led his troops to attack the enemy camp at night, then it would be nice to get some credit for it.

The fear was that the enemy deliberately set a trap to lure them out of the city and take the opportunity to seize Jinan.

He did not trust the judgment of his generals at all.

If these guys were really able to fight, they wouldn't be trembling in fear when they heard the enemy attacking.

Even a simple task like stabilizing the military morale had to be done by him, the governor.

“Governor, this shouldn’t be an enemy conspiracy.

The troops under the command of Marquis Wuyang were not far from the city of Jinan.

If something unexpected happens here, the news will definitely be received over there.

There is no camp to protect us at night. If a hundred thousand soldiers come to our aid, the ten thousand Beilu will not be enough to deal with them!"

The young general explained hurriedly.

"Shut up!"

"When is it your turn to comment on my decision?

Come here, give him thirty military sticks!"

Jia Xiaochen ordered angrily.

No matter how the situation changes, the governor's authority cannot be challenged.

Even if objections are raised, it should be the governor or the provincial judge who should come. How can we let a military general make decisions?

If this trend cannot be curbed in time, using culture to control military power will become a joke, and it will be difficult to lead the team in the future.

……

(End of this chapter)