mtl008 Chapter 545 Two-Sided Operation
Chapter 545 Two-Sided Operation
The Mongols were all light cavalry, without heavy armor, and were unwilling to charge into such a bayonet formation. Arslan looked around, trying to find the enemy's weakness, but the enemy's strict discipline and well-trained troops disappointed him. One company after another formed small hollow squares on the spot, filling the wide square and compressing the space for the cavalry to charge. Looking around, all he could see were bayonets like a forest, like a hedgehog with no way to bite.
Just as Arslen was feeling lost, something even more despairing happened: the city gates creaked shut. The army of the Plain Blue Banner was clearly not far away, but with the gates closed, the Mongol cavalry, cut off from the main force, became trapped like turtles in a jar.
The Mongols were in despair, but Su Hongtu on the city wall was not having an easy time.
He wasn't unfamiliar with siege warfare; during the Battle of Hezhou, he led a newly formed army against a bandit force of 60,000. Rumor had it that the Tartars were far stronger than the bandits, but with this fortress, he was confident he could hold the castle. The variable was that over a thousand Mongol soldiers had been let in to rescue Ma Wei and his cavalry battalion. To be on the safe side, at least two infantry battalions needed to be deployed to surround them, preventing them from causing trouble and launching a coordinated attack with the Tartars outside the city. This meant only two infantry battalions remained on the city walls, forced to fight against tens of thousands of Tartar troops while also being distracted by the battle inside the city.
Su Hongtu watched the approaching Tartars, then glanced back at the Mongol cavalry trapped in several small square formations. A dilemma arose in his mind: fighting on two fronts was a cardinal sin in warfare; he had to defeat these Mongols first, then focus all his efforts on the main army outside the city. But he needed someone to command both the city walls and the city below, and he was overwhelmed. Who would help him command the troops?
He quickly ran through his mind, selecting suitable candidates: Ma Wei was a cavalry battalion commander, and commanding infantry was not his forte; moreover, the long journey had exhausted his physical and mental strength, so he was clearly unreliable at this time. The other officers were all from the new army who had participated in the Battle of Hezhou, and had not received military academy training in the Lingao headquarters system. They were good at executing orders, but lacked the ability to command independently, and did not have enough prestige, so they were not suitable candidates either.
After much thought, the only person who could keep the troops in check was Liang Xiaoming, the nominal commander-in-chief.
Su Hongtu looked at Liang Xiaoming. Although he claimed to be an amateur in warfare, defending a city required little technical skill. Having him oversee the operations and maintain morale wouldn't be a problem. Besides, he was the one who invented all the rifles and cannons everyone was using, and he personally designed the castle. No one understood the performance of the weapons and the defensive capabilities of the castle better than him. He was the one!
After making up his mind, Su Hongtu said to Liang Xiaoming, "General, the Mongol soldiers we let in must be eliminated. I'm going down to take command, so you'll be in charge of the city walls."
Liang Xiaoming was taken aback, then followed his gaze to the Mongols who were preparing to charge the infantry formation. He understood the seriousness and urgency of the situation, gritted his teeth, and nodded: "Even if I haven't eaten pork, I've seen pigs run. You go ahead, I'll hold out here for a while."
After Su Hongtu left, Liang Xiaoming stared at the army outside the city, took a deep breath to ease his tension, and then said to the soldiers, "Set up the mountain guns and test fire a few rounds to see if the enemy has any cannons." As long as the enemy didn't carry heavy weapons like the Hongyi cannons, he was quite confident in the fortress's defensive strength. Even if he didn't have much military talent, he could hold out for a while even if he put a bunch of pigs on the city wall.
Abatai watched as Arslen's men stormed into the castle, and the gates closed shortly afterward, yet he never gave the order to launch a full-scale assault amidst the chaos. Gartu asked, puzzled, "My lord, Arslen followed us into the city earlier, why didn't we charge? That was the perfect opportunity."
Abatai stared at the strangely shaped castle and shook his head: "This army and this castle are both very strange. Don't make any rash moves before you figure it out. Who knows if there are any traps inside? The lives of the warriors of my Great Jin are very precious. We can't send them to their deaths easily."
As a Beile of the Later Jin, although he was prepared to eliminate any who dared to resist for the Great Jin, it didn't mean he would send his precious Niru (military units) into the unknown battlefield. He was a minor banner lord of the Plain Blue Banner, with only five directly controlled Niru under his command. These were his means of survival in the Later Jin regime, and if they were lost without explanation, he would lose face even more in front of his nephews and nieces like Hauge. As for Arsleng's life or death, he didn't care. After all, these Mongols belonged to the Bordered White Banner, and even if they were lost, it would be Dorgon's loss, not his.
Gartu understood his intention and suggested, "Since it's strange, why don't we send the Han army up to test the waters?"
Abatai nodded: "Our men will hold the line, let the Han army charge ahead."
After the order was given, more than two thousand Han soldiers stepped forward and moved slowly. Most of them were Ming soldiers who had surrendered and were incorporated into Altai's army before leaving the pass. The whips on their foreheads were freshly shaved, and many of them had not shaved clean, with hair roots still remaining, making their scalps look bluish.
At this time, the Later Jin had not yet formally established the Eight Banners Han Army. Although the Wuzhen Chaoha artillery unit, commanded by the son-in-law Tong Yangxing, had become a formal organization and was organized into a Han Army banner with a blue flag, the other Han Army units were still unorganized temporary workers, and in the eyes of many Later Jin nobles, they were just cannon fodder to be consumed.
Just as the Han army stepped out of their ranks, there was movement on the opposite city wall.
With a series of booming sounds, cannons fired from several protruding corners, and the dark cannonballs, taking advantage of the height of the city walls, drew an arc and landed among the Han army.
Although not a heavy artillery piece, this 6-pound iron ball still possessed considerable destructive power. After passing through several Han soldiers, the shell landed on the hard ground, bounced up, and continued to pierce through the dense crowd, carving a bloody gash.
"They actually have cannons!" Abatai was somewhat surprised. Although they were different from the heavy cannons he had seen before, their firepower and range were in no way inferior. However, he did not intend to give up the probing siege. These Han soldiers were dead, so be it. As long as he could find the enemy's weakness, losing a few hundred or a thousand men was not a big deal.
On the city wall, seeing the Han army continue their advance after a brief commotion following the cannon fire, without launching a counterattack, Liang Xiaoming felt relieved. It seemed this Later Jin force had made a long march and hadn't brought cannons. Without heavy weapons, defending the city was much easier.
Inside the city, Su Hongtu gave the order: "Attention, first rank soldiers, hold still. Second rank soldiers, prepare to fire, raise your guns two inches and aim at the people on horseback."