Chapter 1225: Priorities

Unlike the generals of the Mengyuan Hararu Guard, who were still hesitating in the direction of breaking through, Ni Liang's goal was very clear, that is, to annihilate all the trapped enemy troops in the ditch. At this time, the sky was gradually dawning, and the 1st and 2nd Brigades, which were in charge of sealing the mouth, had now controlled the north and south exits, and the 3rd Brigade had also entered the forward position on the mountainside, completing the plan to encircle the enemy.

The battle has already begun, there is no need to conceal his whereabouts, the temple is small and dark, Ni Liang simply moved the command post to the high platform in front of the temple, but the guards still used tree branches to build a simple concealment department, which can block the dazzling sunlight and can also play a certain role in shading. He thought it was a redundant move, for it was still miles away from the center of the market town, and the enemy's most powerful stone throwers could not reach it, let alone bow and crossbow.

Ni Liang picked up the telescope and looked at the north mountain pass first, there were hills on both sides across the road, one, with the head facing south and the tail facing north, like a foraging turtle; One, with its head facing north and tail facing south, resembles a resting turtle. The villagers named it 'Turtle Mountain Head' after the shape, the distance between the two mountains is four miles, the middle is the post road, there are fields, barren beaches and earth platforms, low hills between the two sides, the terrain is very complicated.

At that moment, the vanguard of the 1st Brigade had already occupied the head of Guishan at the mouth of the valley, destroyed the wooden fence set up by the enemy, filled part of the trench, and opened the way to the town. And use high platforms and low hills to arrange small artillery positions and establish fire support points. Communication trenches were dug between the points, improvised fortifications were constructed, and a winding line of defense was formed, and the main force arrived and set up a formation behind the nodes of the defense line, blocking all the way out.

"Jiang is still old and spicy, Tian Zhong is so arranged to attack, retreat and defend, and he is invincible!" Ni Liang said secretly in his heart after seeing it.

Fearing discovery by the enemy, the 1st Brigade had been on standby for miles before the attack, sending only a few elite officers to act as vanguards, so as to quickly seize the commanding heights after the battle began, control the junction, and buy time for the main force to enter the battlefield. Now that the position has been formed, the defensive line seems to be loose, but the various fire support points can support each other, and the armies in the rear can also quickly enter the battle, which is also the best choice when the enemy's next move is unclear, and it is unwise to blindly break into the melee with the enemy when the troops are at a disadvantage.

Ni Liang's gaze turned to the south pass, where there were mountains blocking the view, but he could also see that the battle flags of the 2nd Brigade were planted on the peaks on both sides of the pass, and after a fierce battle, the forward army had already broken through to the mountain pass and established a semi-circular defensive line, they counterattacked the enemy troops who tried to drive them out under the cover of artillery fire, and constantly expanded the defensive circle to buy time for the arrival of the follow-up troops. And the troops that entered later did not rush to launch a further attack, but frantically dug trenches, built fortifications, consolidated the defensive line, and in a short time formed two ring fortifications fifty paces apart.

"Li Ting is also good, he knows the priorities, and he didn't want to attack rashly like before!" Ni Liang was also very relieved to see this.

Ni Liang knew very well that the little emperor had always regarded the Mongol cavalry as a great enemy since he started his army, and constantly studied the tactics of restraining the cavalry, in addition to constantly developing new firearms and strengthening firepower to suppress the enemy cavalry. In actual combat, he also summed up a set of effective strategies for controlling the enemy in field battles, that is, when conditions permit, it is necessary to build fortifications and organize defense on the basis of this. Even if it is impossible to construct fortifications in a hurry, it is necessary to use terrain features such as rivers, valleys, ditches and woods, high ground, and simple things such as horse bars, horse bars, and trenches to weaken the cavalry's impact and limit the cavalry's range of movement.

At the beginning of that year, the little emperor made use of all available terrain and rushed to build fortifications, arrange artillery positions, and form a complete defense system. It played a great role in the battle, annihilating the two Wanhu Mansions of the Mengyuan garrison army with a weak victory and a strong victory, and severely damaged one Wanhu Mansion, laying the foundation for the capture of Jiangdong.

That battle was completed with the Imperial Protector as the main force, so all the units of the Protector Army were able to skillfully use this tactic, and continued to summarize and improve it in the subsequent battles. In this Northern Expedition, they flexibly used this tactic to win the Yangzhou counter-sneak attack operation, and played a huge role in the Jiangdong siege and annihilation of the Yuxi Timurid Division.

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Brigades of the Protector Army were all expanded from the earliest Wangfu Guard Battalion, and they were the main force of the Imperial Guards. This time, in the face of the enemy Hararuwei, who had equal strength and cavalry as the main force, after using the terrain to encircle the enemy in the mountain basin, they invariably adopted the tactics of relying on fortifications.

"Du Shuai, the enemy army has gathered heavy troops to attack the north entrance, and Tian Dutong asks for instructions on whether to attack!" At this time, a member of the army reported.

"Tell Tian Dutong to strictly defend the defensive line, rely on the fortifications to kill and injure the attacking enemy, and not attack without an order!" Ni Liang looked at the north entrance, and sure enough, thousands of Mongolian enemy troops were gathered, divided into several teams, and prepared to attack the defense line of the first brigade, and he did not hesitate to deny Tian Zhong's request to take the opportunity of the enemy's assembly to take the lead in attacking.

You must know that after the annihilation of the Hararuwei, the main force of the protector army will immediately turn to the battle of annihilating the Mengyuan Kipchak Guards and the Han Army's Five Guards who came to the aid of Yingtianfu, which has more troops and stronger combat effectiveness than the Haraluwei. Before that, they would not be able to obtain reinforcements from their forces and friendly troops, so they had to minimize their own casualties in this battle on the basis of ensuring the annihilation of the current enemy forces in order to preserve the necessary combat effectiveness.

"Du Shuai, is the enemy attacking Beishankou intending to open the way back to Xuzhou?" Sima Xiaoting, the former protector of the Imperial Army, asked beside him.

"I can't judge it yet, what does Sima think?" Ni Liang put down the binoculars and asked.

"I thought it should be at the South Exit!" Xiao Ting said, "At present, the main force of the enemy army is four thousand households gathered in the town, and the enemy troops attacking the north entrance are all several thousand households mixed by the Semu people and Han soldiers, and they are all infantry troops, obviously insufficient attack power, it is estimated that it should be a feint." ”

"If Sima judges, then the pressure on the Second Brigade will be greater. But the narrow south entrance is not conducive to giving full play to the advantages of cavalry, doesn't Tie Maichi understand? Ni Liang frowned and said with some concern, obviously agreeing with Xiao Ting's opinion, but he was still a little puzzled.

"Li Mao's rocket artillery accurately hit the post house, and two more rounds of covering fire were fired, and according to the report of the observation post ahead, no one was seen running out after the shelling, and all of them were carried out. However, the scouts could not get close to reconnoiter and could not find out the specific situation, but Tie Maichi estimated that he was more than lucky, and he was seriously injured if he did not die. Xiao Ting reported with a smile.

"Oh, Li Mao, this guy really has two hits, and he knocked him out!" Ni Liang also said with a smile on his face.

"When he reported it, he also regretted that he didn't bring more rockets, and he didn't be able to stew the enemy people who gathered at the post house after the shelling!" Xiao Ting also said with a smile.

"In this way, Tie Maichi is really more than lucky. Unless something major happens, the enemy will not leave the defense to gather in one place. Ni Liang listened and thought for a while, "Then it is not surprising that the enemy army is arranged like this, they are ambushed here, it is not difficult to make the judgment that we intend to be in Xuzhou." If Tie Maichi is still alive, he must have clearly lost Xuzhou, then the entire Huaibei defense system will collapse, and he will make a decision to return to Xuzhou; If he dies or is seriously injured and cannot serve, his subordinates must be thinking about how to protect the interests of his people. And they knew their intention to come to Fuli's aid from two ways, and there would be hundreds of thousands of enemy troops there, which was obviously much safer than going back to Xuzhou to defend the lonely city! ”

"Well, then the Second Brigade should adjust its strategy, let them arrange defenses along the foot of the mountain, and rely on the artillery positions arranged on the mountain to defend!" Xiao Ting said.

"I thought it was okay, but I couldn't withdraw from the pass, but I had to hold it firmly, otherwise it would be very difficult to launch a counterattack!" Ni Liang thought for a while.

"Okay, I'll tell the two departments to adjust the deployment immediately!" Xiao Ting nodded.

"Du Shuai, what are we doing, just watch the excitement on the mountain?" At this time, Sun Jin, the commander of the three brigades, came in and asked.

"Oh, you're all in place?" Ni Liang turned his face to look at him and asked.

"Yes, all regiments have entered the designated positions and completed their combat preparations!" Sun Jin replied.

"Go on the defensive, wait for orders!" Ni Liang said in a deep voice.

"Du Shuai, we ran desperately for sixty miles, and the horses were tired of more than a dozen horses, just listen to the sound on the mountain!" Sun Jin was anxious when he heard this, and asked loudly. He has also been a soldier by His Majesty's side since he was a teenager, and he has a good personal relationship with Ni Liang, so he can't take care of it much in a hurry.

"Sun Dutong, how can you be idle, it is useful for Du Shuai to leave your troops on the mountain, but it will not be time!" Xiao Ting patted his shoulder and smiled.

"At the moment when the enemy army finds that they are suddenly trapped in the valley, it is when they are panicking, they should take advantage of the chaos to attack immediately, fight quickly, and then immediately turn to Ying Tianfu, instead of leaving them a chance to breathe!" Sun Jin is indeed unconvinced.

"Don't you know what it means to be trapped and what it means to be a priority? They found that they were trapped and anxious to break through, it was a fierce time, and attacking them would only increase casualties, and we must know that our most precious thing at present is our troops, and in the absence of reinforcements, we must also annihilate the enemy troops who should be sent by Tianfu. Now the only way to do this is to take the defensive, rely on fortifications to defeat their spirits, consume their troops, and then strike a fatal blow when their morale is low and their hearts are panicking, and you are the hammer that crushes the last hope of the enemy! Ni Liang taught him a lesson.

"Oh, I see, isn't it just for us to clean up a bunch of defeated soldiers? Boring. Sun Jin rolled his eyes, but he also understood that what Ni Liang said was right, and sighed again, "Alas, I don't know if Luo Datong can intercept the enemy of Ying Tianfu and hold out until we rush to the battlefield!" ”

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