Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 308 The Shilka River

"Prime Minister, our troops have suffered heavy casualties, with nearly three thousand men lost!"

"Prime Minister, the scouts and Red Army troops in Shaanxi Province are almost wiped out!"

"Prime Minister, the local militia I brought are all clamoring to leave!"

"Prime Minister, all the warriors of our Duo'er border region are dead!"

"Prime Minister, Bolod Timur's head has been displayed on the city wall."

"Prime Minister~~~"

Each cry, filled with sobs, was like a giant hammer, relentlessly pounding on Tuotuo's heart.

He sat there with his head down and eyes closed, his face deathly pale, without uttering a word.

"Prime Minister!"

Councilor Gong Bo stepped forward quickly, his hands trembling as he handed over a book: "Battle damage statistics, a preliminary summary has been made."

The tent, which was noticeably quieter than when the military council had taken place, gradually fell silent.

All eyes were drawn to the statistics book.

Tuotuo opened her eyes and tried to reach out to catch it.

I could feel my hands trembling, so I took a deep breath.

"Read!"

Gong Bo dared not delay and hurriedly opened the book: "The Central Secretariat's garrison of the Han army suffered over four thousand casualties and eighty-seven wounded."

"The local militia and guerrillas in various parts of the Central Secretariat suffered more than 7,000 casualties and 170 wounded in battle."

"The Red Army scouts suffered over 5,000 casualties and 293 wounded."

"One commander of ten thousand was wounded, one deputy commander of ten thousand died in battle, three commanders of a thousand, four deputy commanders of a thousand, and dozens of commanders of a hundred were killed or wounded."

Tuotuo's eye twitched; an entire army of ten thousand households had been wiped out.

It doesn't matter whether the Han army or the local militias are involved, but the scouts and the Red Army are all Mongols!
Because the Red Turban Army launched fierce counterattacks in various places, it was difficult to accurately count the specific number of casualties and prisoners.

The only way to make the statistics is to subtract the number of men who returned to the camp from the original number of men in each unit.

Whether they died in battle, were captured, or fled in disarray, no one knows.

As for why the Han army had so few wounded, it was because all the other armies used them as cannon fodder and sent them to flood the city first.

As a result, the vast majority of the wounded never had a chance to return.

"Shaanxi Province~"

"Jiangnan and Jiangbei Provinces"

Each cold number, read aloud by Gong Bo, made Tuotuo's heart bleed.

"Huguang Province and Yunnan Province"

Gong Bo paused at this point.

The troops in these two provinces were both under the command of Bolot Timur, and they suffered the most severe losses.

"The Han army suffered over ten thousand casualties."

"The local militia and village troops suffered over ten thousand casualties in battle."

"The losses in the three Wanhu garrisons of Xiangyang, Dali, and Kunming, as well as the scattered tribes of the Sanzhiwu tribe, are too great. Their camps are now in complete chaos and difficult to count." At this point, Gong Bo's face was full of bitterness.

"I roughly estimated that the casualties were close to 30,000."

The ten-thousand-household offices in the Yuan Dynasty did not all consist of ten thousand people.

They are usually divided into three classes: superior, middle, and inferior, based on the importance of the place they are stationed in.

The troop strength ranged from three thousand to seven thousand.

The Central Secretariat had more households within its territory, while those in other regions had fewer.

Of the 30,000 casualties, at least half were members of the Sanjiwu tribe.

With so many men dead, this tribe is basically finished.

“I searched their camp, but the deputy commander and the darughachi were all gone, and I only found three commanders.”

Not only were there losses in troop numbers, but the losses of high-ranking officers were also staggering.

"Whoo~~~"

Tuotuo closed her eyes again.

However, the disaster reported by Gong Bo was not over yet: "The Kheshig army suffered nearly a hundred casualties, and the Imperial Guards suffered more than ten thousand casualties."

The Kheshig were the personal guards of the Mongol Khan.

During Temujin's reign, it was called Kheshig.

After Kublai Khan reorganized it, it was reorganized into the Kheshig Army, which became the most important place for various Yuan officials to gain prestige.

The Mongol tribes, Semu people, Han people, and others all tried every means to squeeze in.

At its peak, the number of people soared to as many as 15,000 to 16,000.

Their treatment was extremely high, and the imperial court's expenditure was too great.

After years of downsizing, the staff was eventually reduced to 13,000.

When the city was flooded during the day, Toqto'a personally directed the battle outside the North Gate.

The process involved first stepping through landmines, then being blown up, and then being subjected to intense flintlock fire.

Especially when the Mongols attacked the city, they were attacked with Molotov cocktails.

Lin Dao arrived later and operated the Gatling gun at the North Gate, unleashing a hail of over 100,000 bullets that shattered the morale of the Yuan army.

The defending forces then launched a counterattack, and the main casualties of the Kheshig army stemmed from various accidents and infighting caused by panic during their escape.

The Kheshig army, which once swept across thousands of miles, became nothing more than a figurehead in just a few decades.

Tuotuo personally led tens of thousands of his personal guards, whom he had brought from Dadu, in a counter-attack, and they successfully withstood the defenders' counterattack.

The losses of the Imperial Guards also largely stemmed from this.

Like the personal guards formed by Lin Dao, the personal guards of the Yuan court were also field armies similar to the imperial guards.

The Yuan Dynasty's personal guards originated from the Wuwei Army established by Kublai Khan.

It was a field army directly under the imperial court.

The interior was mainly composed of Han soldiers, who made up more than half of the troops.

The remaining people were Semu people and Mongol people.

Its total strength reached 200,000, and because the Han army was the largest, it was also called the Imperial Guard Han Army.

Gong Bo summarized, "In this battle, the garrison troops of the Han army in various places suffered more than 20,000 casualties, and the local militia and village militia suffered nearly 30,000 casualties."

"The various garrisons, scouts, and Red Army have suffered nearly 70,000 casualties in battle~~~" Such a devastating loss caused everyone to break down.

The entire tent was filled with weeping!

It doesn't matter if it's Han soldiers or local militia; we can pull out a lot of them anytime.

But the real losses suffered by the Mongols were crippling.

This isn't just cutting off flesh; it's like having your bones shaved off by the Red Turban Army!
Seventy thousand soldiers!
The mighty Han Dynasty lost 70,000 soldiers in a single battle, forcing Emperor Wu of Han to issue an edict of self-reproach.

The mighty Tang Dynasty lost 70,000 troops in a single battle, marking its direct decline from its peak.

Tuotuo was completely numb.

He didn't know how to explain himself to the emperor or the court.

That's 70,000 soldiers!
At that moment, Tuotuo even had thoughts of dying.

A commotion gradually arose outside the tent.

The noise grew louder and louder, even drowning out the cries from inside the tent.

Tortso, his mind in turmoil, immediately flew into a rage: "Are all the patrolmen dead?!"

The patrolman, who hadn't died, stormed into the main tent, bringing news that couldn't be worse.

"Red Turban bandits, night attack!!"

With the roar of its engines, the ZSU-23-4 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, also known as the Shilka River, with its headlights on, turned its tracks and charged toward Tokhtaw's main camp.

These relics of sickles and hammers from decades ago are readily available in South Africa.

You can buy the vehicle body and weapons separately.

After spending a lot of money on renovations, repairs, and system integration, and with Lin Dao familiarizing himself with the operation, it was opened today.

"While you are sick, I will kill you."

Lin Dao, inside the cockpit, stared at the footage transmitted from the external camera, drove the vehicle, rammed through the barricades and deer antlers, crossed the trenches, pushed down the guardrails, and drove straight into the camp.

Behind him were many Red Turban Army soldiers who had tied their flashlights to the sides of their helmets with red scarves.

A small number of cavalrymen stepped forward, threw ropes to lasso the antlers of the chevaux-de-frise, and together they worked to destroy the obstacle.

Then the armored soldiers carrying the planks followed and placed the long planks on the trench.

Strong and sturdy armored soldiers carried giant axes and crossed the trench first, then swung their axes to chop down the camp fence.

The fence was constantly being damaged, and the gaps were getting bigger and bigger.

A large number of Red Turban soldiers poured into the camp through the breach and began setting fires and killing people.

As for why the Yuan army did not stop or counterattack these Red Turban soldiers.

Besides the recent crushing defeat, low morale, and disorganization,

More importantly, the Lindao, leading the way, drove the Shilka River through the camp with spectacular sound and light effects, attracting everyone's attention.

The Shilka River is equipped with four 23mm caliber aircraft cannons.

It has forty ammunition boxes built in, with a total ammunition capacity of over two thousand rounds.

Lin Dao kept firing short bursts and long bursts, but there were no targets in the camp worth firing at in rapid succession.

Each time, several or even a dozen high-explosive incendiary tracer rounds were fired, which fell in droves to the tent clusters, haystacks, livestock pens, cart camps, artisan camps, sentry posts, and other places.

The tracer bullet left a clear trail, tore through the air, hit the target, and exploded and burned.

This unprecedented attack method completely stunned the Yuan army.

Countless people were killed, injured, blown away, or caught in fire.

What's even more outrageous is that some fierce Yuan soldiers attempted to counterattack.

They rode their horses toward the Shilka River, thrusting with spears and halberds, slashing with swords, and shooting with bows and arrows.

They used all the weapons they could, but when they hit the Shilka River, they only made a clanging sound.

Invulnerable to swords and spears, coupled with devastating attack power.

The Yuan army's morale completely collapsed.

Large numbers of soldiers began to desert, and the entire camp collapsed.

Lin Dao paid no attention to the Yuan soldiers surrounding him and drove his chariot over them.

Anyway, every time I drive an infantry fighting vehicle out to fight, cleaning the tracks is a must afterward.

More and more Red Turban Army soldiers rushed in, using squads as their basic tactical unit, cooperating with each other to massacre the Yuan soldiers.

"Prime Minister, leave immediately!"

The group, who were holding a military meeting, were blasted out by a string of high-explosive incendiary bombs.

After all, Tuotuo's tent was so big and conspicuous that Lin Dao wasn't blind, so he could naturally see it.

The Yuan army's high command was largely wiped out by a series of cannonballs fired by Lin Dao.

The remaining men fled in a sorry state, and seeing the camp in complete chaos, they knew that things were hopeless.

Tai Buhua, the Left Chancellor of Henan Province, seized a horse and pushed Tuotuo, who was staring blankly at the crisscrossing Shilka River, onto the horse.

A group of people quickly ran towards the camp gate.

But upon arriving here, they ran into Xu Da's hundred-man squad.

Xu Da was very clever; he knew that with the situation already decided, the Yuan army would inevitably choose to flee.

However, the camp's fences and fortifications became deadly obstacles preventing the Yuan army from escaping.

The most convenient way to escape successfully is through the camp gate.

He simply led his hundred-man squad and blocked the place.

This blockade directly blocked the big fish.

The Red Turban Army had flashlights strapped to both sides of their helmets, the blinding light dazzling the Yuan soldiers.

The battle between the two sides erupted fiercely and swiftly.

Swords cleaved and axes slashed, armor clashed, and roars and screams mingled together.

Since returning to camp, Tuotuo had been in a daze, and his mind was still a mess.

As the fighting drew closer, he finally remembered to draw his sword and fight back.

Just as he was about to charge on horseback, a sharp arrow whistled through the air and struck him squarely in the face.

Tuotuo screamed and fell off his horse.

The surrounding Yuan soldiers exclaimed in surprise, "The Prime Minister?!"

Xu Da, not far away, drew his bow once more.

(End of this chapter)