The dead cavalryman was dragged back by his horse with one leg tied to his leg. His head was chopped off to vent his anger, but the fatal wound was on his chest, which was split open by a heavy axe.
Hwang Tae-gil is especially concerned about the bloodied breastplate, he stooped down to touch it, and even knocked on it. He's young, but his brows are deeply furrowed. The cold wind blew his hair into a mess, he raised his head to look at the direction the enemy came from. The clouds in the sky are constantly moving, the grass on both sides of the road rustled. There seems to be a ferocious beast hiding in the distance.
Hwang Tae-gil asked Saharén: "Is this the leader of the Han?" He jumped down from his horse to examine the corpse, the armor was clear, the body was well-built. The corpse was also carrying a water bottle, a dagger and other small trinkets, as well as some dry rations. The clothes were made of good material, and clean. The breastplate and skirt armor are of excellent quality, he even lamented the fact that such a good piece of armor was destroyed.
Saharén hesitated for a while, but still shook his head: "No, this is just a small soldier. I've exchanged blows with the leader of this Han cavalry. That guy knows how to use military formations, I couldn't do anything to him with my axe. But that guy is very slippery, as soon as he saw the situation wasn't right, he ran. I only managed to kill a few of his subordinates before returning. "
"How many did you kill?" Hwang Tae-gil asked.
"I killed …, three." Saharén lowered his head apologetically. He's Nurhachi's son-in-law, so his seniority should be the same as Hwang Tae-gil. But Hwang Tae-gil is the Banner Commander of the 8 Banners, one of the 4 Beilei, his status is much higher than his. Being asked how many did he kill, he was both embarrassed and annoyed — — because the difference in casualties this time is too big.
Hwang Tae-gil immediately asked again: "You brought a 100-man squad, how many did you lose?"
"At the start, we were blasted by those Han with landmines. The power of the landmines is comparable to a level-9 spell, we couldn't withstand it at all. Fortunately, our formation was loose. Only a few of us were killed on the spot, but many of us were stunned by the explosion. After that, they were ambushed by the Han soldiers, so they suffered more casualties. "
At this point, Saharén was already hesitating. He had also made the same mistake as Niu Lu, underestimating the enemy. After being hit by a five-kilogram bag of explosives, he angrily rushed forward and did not restrain his troops, but he did not gain the slightest advantage when fighting with Han Shi. Military formations had a natural suppressive effect on individuals.
Listening to Saharén's repeated excuses, Hwang Tae-gil furiously asked again, "I'm only asking you, how many people have died?"
"About seven or eight." Saharén turned around. He couldn't figure out how big his losses were.
Hwang Tae-gil, on the other hand, wanted to get to the bottom of this matter. After a careful count, he realized that the men Saharén brought had lost sixteen men in just one round with the enemy. There were only three results. Of which, Saharén personally killed one, while the other two were obtained from a siege.
"The horsemanship of these Han soldiers isn't good, and they don't seem to be used to riding horses. They have good armour and blades, and their aura is impressive. Their horses are well-fed, and they're well-fed. " Saharén pondered for a long time before adding, "The other party's leader is quite capable, and knows how to fight."
In just half a day, the Plain White Banner had lost almost a Niu Lu elite troop, and another Niu Lu, erm. If this goes on, how can Hwang Tae-gil endure it? He immediately ordered Saharén to continue leading the troops south. He must find out where these Han soldiers came from, and who are they?
"There's something fishy about their origins. Bring a thousand men and pick some Han clothes to scout the way. It's fine if you take your time, but be careful along the way. " Hwang Tae-gil frowned as he looked towards the south. "They came from Liaoyang, and there should be a change of general there. If it's just the retainers of the general, there's nothing to be afraid of. But if something else happens, it'll be a huge problem. "
Saharén acknowledged, and led the troops back to the city to gather more men. This way, it would take longer. By the time he left the city again, it would already be two to four hours later.
The area between Liaoyang and Shenyang was a plain with many villages scattered around. Due to the chaos of war, most of these villages had been abandoned, and the commoners had fled. This meant that there was nothing to defend between the two cities, and it was a perfect place for cavalry to fight.
Due to the cold weather, Saharén felt a headache coming on as he looked at the snow-covered roads. Although the area between Liaoyang and Shenyang was a plain, there were many low slopes and high hills. At first glance, the view was vast, but there were many blind spots hidden in the open space.
Saharén, who had survived the landmines, moved very carefully. He brought a hundred cavalry and three hundred infantry, and drove the four to five hundred Han slaves along the way. He spread out a large number of cavalry to scout ahead, but it was difficult for his troops to travel in the heavy snow. Even if the Jurchen barbarians snapped their whips, the starving slaves would not be able to walk quickly.
But not long after, the scouting Jurchen cavalrymen returned to report that they had also seen Han cavalrymen scattered in front of them. These cavalry were in groups of two, and they were not afraid of the Jurchen cavalry at all. Both sides would fight as soon as they saw each other, and there were casualties on both sides.
A Jurchen cavalry reported, "The moment those Han see us, they blow their whistles to summon their companions nearby to attack us. Our men often fell into their encirclement the moment we left the wilderness. They are well-trained, and their armors are too good. We have no choice but to turn around and flee. "
With the cavalry being suppressed, Saharén immediately felt his hands and feet tied.
Logically speaking, the more it was like this, the more he had to understand the enemy's movements, or else he would suffer greatly. But Saharén doted on his subordinates, because every single one of them was one of his men. In the end, he could only call back his cavalry and advance along the road. Without a strong vanguard, the army would be on tenterhooks, and their speed would be extremely slow.
In the middle of winter, they did not even manage to travel 15 li. Left with no choice, Saharén could only find a deserted village to set up camp and set up sentries at night to prevent any sneak attacks. The Jurchen barbarians forced the slaves to find some firewood to make some hot soup to fill their stomachs. As for whether the slaves were hungry or cold, the masters did not care.
"Where the hell did these damned Hans pop out from?" Saharén looked at the dark night with a bitter expression, thinking that the Han would not come out on such a snowy day. "Tomorrow, I'll head south and find a few villages to slaughter. I can't let those Han be too complacent. When I get to Liaoyang and find out who the enemy is, I'll immediately lead the troops back to Shenyang. "
The gloomy night obscured Saharén's eyes. He had yet to realize who the enemy was. But as the enemy, the Imperial Guards, were determined to teach the enemy a lesson they would never forget.
In the Tiger Skin Courier Station, located at the midpoint between Shenyang and Liaoyang, Han Shi was reporting to Zhou Qingfeng about the battle during the day. "Today, we had two small skirmishes with the Kennu, and this subordinate was fortunate enough to obtain a small victory. We killed around 40 enemies, while our side lost three men, one was seriously injured, and 26 were lightly injured. Our formation remained intact.
Following that, the sentries from both sides also clashed many times. Although the results were not great, it ensured that our main force remained out of the enemy's sight. The enemy is still unclear of our formation and intentions.
The Kennu's defeat today was mainly due to their carelessness and underestimation of the enemy. Their armors and weapons are far inferior to ours. In both ambushes, they panicked and suffered heavy losses from our two platoons. Our lesson was mainly due to my mistake in commanding the troops. The second time, I was not resolute enough. If I had let go of my worries at that time and charged head-on with the enemy cavalry, although the casualties would have been higher, the enemy would have died even more. "
The cavalry company clerk in charge of recording the report recorded Han Shi's words in detail. These things would be passed down as the history of the army. Zhou Qingfeng was satisfied with Han Shi's battle today. He nodded his head slightly and said, "To be able to achieve an exchange ratio of 40 to 3, the Kennu must be extremely heartbroken. This is not a small victory, but a great victory. We are still very weak now and do not have enough troops. It is also correct to control the casualties. "
Han Shi chuckled. He was much older than Zhou Qingfeng, but now he felt that his thick-skinned decision to seek refuge with them was the best choice. He now had a cavalry battalion with hundreds of elite soldiers. Any one of them was stronger than the family servants of a general in the past. Now, he would not even accept the position of Chief of the Ming Army. The Revolutionary Army was still more comfortable.
"According to the information sent back by the scouts we left behind, the Kennu sent out another troop of about a thousand men after we left. They also brought more than half of the slaves to scout the way. They were probably frightened by the explosives we buried along the way. " Han Shi continued to smile and said, "As the vanguard was suppressed by us, they moved slowly in the heavy snow. Before nightfall, they stopped at Shahe Pu, 15 li from the Tiger Skin Inn."
The cavalry was not useful at night. At most, they could be used for surveillance and passing information.
Zhou Qingfeng turned his head to look at Gao Daniu who had followed him. Gao Daniu straightened his back and shouted, "Young Marshal, leave this group of enemies to us, we will launch a night attack on them. Our battalion has undergone specialized night combat training and will definitely be able to deal a heavy blow to the enemy.
I will personally lead two infantry companies and a combat engineer company. We will first use explosives to blast open the enemy's defensive line, then use spears to charge in and kill to our heart's content. After daybreak, we can also use the cavalry to give chase and ensure that they have nowhere to run. "
It would be a joke to say that the current Imperial Guard was elite. After all, it had only been formed less than half a year ago. Most of the soldiers who had been expanded recently were new recruits. But their morale was indeed high. They dared to fight and were not afraid of sacrifice.
"It won't be easy to launch a night attack on a snowy day," Zhou Qingfeng said in a low voice, "We have not undergone specialized training to attack on a snowy night."
"Eat and drink more. Wear warm clothes. We have brought 60 horse sleds. With all of us dressed lightly, we can travel 15 li in an hour. The heavy snow is not easy for us, and the enemy will not expect it. " Gao Daniu scratched his head after saying this. "Young Marshal, please personally hold the line. Our brothers will definitely not be afraid."
Under the illumination of the oil lamp, Zhou Qingfeng looked at the map on the table. He actually wanted to fight. Fighting on a snowy night was difficult. The difficulty lay in the organization and logistics. The cold weakened the fighting strength of both sides, but it was obviously more disadvantageous to the Kennu who had the worst logistics. Only by thoroughly hurting the enemy could they not figure out their strength and not dare to act rashly.
"Ye Na, personally lead the team and send out the scouts. Find out the enemy's deployment and find a breakthrough." Zhou Qingfeng ordered. "Give more food to the soldiers. There will be enough meat and eggs. Everyone will have one Fasting Pill to ensure that they will be full for the whole night. "
The Fasting Pill was similar to a high-energy food. One would not feel hungry for the whole day. Back then, Zhou Qingfeng had gotten a lot of it from Guo Jiao. Now, with Wen Ruolan, he began to mass produce it. When the army went out to battle, they would use it to maintain their physical strength. It also had a stimulating effect. But it still needed to be eaten with some food. It could not be eaten continuously or it would be uncomfortable.
As a maid, Ye Na rode 'Dog Meat' and led the scouts out. Inside the Tigerskin Inn, they began to set up the stove to make supper. Seven or eight modified cooking carts immediately opened fire. Honeycomb briquettes did not require much technology. At present, it had become the standard field fuel for the Imperial Guard. A large pot of boiling water was used to make sweet potato flour. The pre-cooked vermicelli was very easy to cook. Together with salted fish and bacon, it was a delicious meal.
Other armies did not even have pig feed to eat. The Imperial Guard tried their best to satisfy the stomachs of the soldiers. Sweet potatoes had a high yield and were not picky about the fields. It had always been the staple food of the poor in Liaodong. But eating too much of it would cause stomach acid and nausea.
At present, the grain production was not enough. In order to make sweet potatoes play their role as staple food, Li Shuwei, who was in the field of agriculture, set up a vermicelli factory. He washed the sweet potatoes, broke them, and filtered them. He extracted the starch from the sweet potatoes to make vermicelli. This way, it tasted much better.
Pre-cooked and dried vermicelli were durable and easy to cook again. It was the first field food of the Imperial Guard to pass inspection. Not to mention canned food, that thing still required some technology.
Compared to the Ming Army, which could only use vinegar cloth to make soup seasoning, the Imperial Guard's meals were full of oil. All the officers and soldiers were satisfied. Many people thought of ways to join the army just to have a full meal.
Zhou Qingfeng himself was eating hot sweet potato vermicelli in the cauldron. The soup that he scooped out was also mixed with a large amount of egg florets. These were salted eggs that were specially pickled. There were hundreds of them in the cauldron. It was winter, and eating hot soup and rice in the stomach made every soldier feel warm. He ate three big bowls in a row. In the snowy weather, he ate until his forehead was sweating.
After eating and drinking to her heart's content, Ye Na rode "Dog Meat" back and forth in front of the enemy. Having learned some culture, she could clearly describe the battlefield information and draw the enemy's situation.
"The Kennu have more than 400 people. Most of them are infantry. They live on the east side of the village. There are more than a dozen sentries outside. There are a lot of slaves serving the Kennu. They are all on the west side of the village. There are not many bonfires. Many people don't eat or drink. The weather is too cold. The enemy sentries are not vigilant. If we sneak over in the middle of the night, they must be dizzy. "
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