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In this autumn season when the horses are fat, the grass on the Kipchak steppe is turning yellow, the white clouds are high in the sky, and the sky is filled with autumn colors.
On the edge of the small town of Chayan, 160 miles east of Turkestan, Yang Jier led an army of 60,000 and spread out over a 20-mile area, with people roaring, horses neighing, and a strong Hu wind.
Su Jin led an army of nearly 20,000 and approached from the east, with flags flying and swords everywhere. A clash of different civilizations and a massacre that would change the pattern of the Central Asian region was about to break out.
Mu Yisuifeng, who was luckily rescued by his personal soldiers, told Yang Jier about the power of Qin army's firearms. Yang Jier urgently summoned all the generals to discuss countermeasures.
The privy minister Eleusis suggested: "Khan, the enemy has 2,000 soldiers equipped with muskets. If we fight in an upright manner, our army will be easily torn apart by these 2,000 muskets, and eventually the entire army will collapse.
If we divide the 60,000 troops into six groups and attack from all directions, the enemy's muskets will not be able to reach all directions. As long as we have one or two troops rushing in and fighting with the enemy, the enemy's firearms will be useless. When tens of thousands of troops are dispatched together, we can encircle and annihilate the enemy. "
Yang Jier nodded repeatedly and said, "This is a good idea. Does anyone else have any comments?"
Mu Yisuifeng was injured in the internal organs and was very weak, but he still tried his best to remind: "Khan, you must not underestimate the enemy's firearms. They not only have amazing lethality, but also strong mobility.
The Privy Councilor's arrangement sounds good, but with my tens of thousands of troops surrounding us on all sides, the enemy can easily break through from one side with the powerful power of firearms, and it is difficult to judge in advance which side they will break through from.
By then, we will not be able to form a siege, but will be easily defeated by the enemy one by one. However, if one side is breached, it will be a huge blow to morale and may also cause the total collapse of tens of thousands of troops. The Khan must take precautions. "
The Privy Councilor Eleusis said with some dissatisfaction: "General Mu Yi, are you trying to boost the enemy's morale? Don't just criticize me. Do you have any better way to deal with the Qin army?"
Mu Yisuifeng was thinking hard and did not answer Eleusis for a while.
Eleusis snorted coldly, turned to Yang Jier and said, "Khan, what I mean is that while we are encircling from all sides, we should use the light cavalry to cover General Hami's heavy cavalry in the front. When they are halfway through the charge, the light cavalry will move to the wings to allow the heavy cavalry behind to launch the charge. General Hami's heavy cavalry and their horses are protected by armor, so the enemy's bullets will not do much damage, so they should be able to charge in easily."
"No." Mu Yisuifeng immediately denied it. "Privy Councilor, you probably don't know that the real fear of the Qin army is not just the musket, but also a kind of artillery with even more amazing power, which can be carried on the shoulder and fired. When it explodes, the sky and the earth change color, and the power is extraordinary. If General Hami's 300 heavy cavalry encounter this kind of artillery, there is no way they can rush to the front of the Qin army."
"General Mu Yi, you must be frightened by the enemy, how ridiculous!"
Mu Yisuifeng ignored Eleusis's sarcasm and continued to say to Yang Jier, "Great Khan. I have served the Great Khan loyally and have never frowned in the face of danger. Although I was lucky enough to be rescued by my personal soldiers this time, my internal organs are seriously injured. I know I won't live long.
I am a dying man, and my words are good. I am not saying this because I am afraid of death, Khan. Please believe me, this will never work, and the only consequence will be a great defeat to the Qin army.
Using General Hami's heavy cavalry in this way is a waste of time. In my opinion, only a part of the light cavalry should be sacrificed to attract the enemy's firepower, and then the heavy cavalry should be used to charge. Only in this way can it be possible to defeat the enemy.
Moreover, the frontal troops used to lure the enemy would probably collapse quickly under the attack of the enemy's firearms, so that the enemy would have broken out before the troops in other directions could complete the encirclement.
Therefore, in addition to deploying troops to lure the enemy, we should also use the terrain to deploy some caltrops or horse traps to prevent the enemy from breaking out quickly. Only in this way can we encircle and annihilate the enemy. "
Seeing him coughing up blood in anxiety, Yang Jier was very moved and comforted him: "General Mu Yi's words, this Khan has listened. But your suggestion requires luring the enemy to the set trap. The enemy is all cavalry, and it may not be easy to lure them to a specific location."
Mu Yisuifeng immediately replied: "Great Khan, this is not difficult. As long as Great Khan deploys the main force behind the trap and Great Khan personally takes charge, I believe the enemy will attack with all their strength when they see Great Khan's flag."
"Okay, I'll do as you say!"
Yang Jier followed suit and retreated another ten miles, setting up his battle array at the foot of two small hills, which were figuratively called Shuangfeng Mountain by the local herdsmen. There was a two-mile-wide passage between the two hills.
Yang Jier took advantage of the cover of night and had his men dig many traps between the two mountains. He then set up his own tent behind the traps and took charge with 20,000 troops.
The other 40,000 troops were distributed on the hills on both sides and behind the hills. They would wait for the Qin army to launch an attack, then go out from behind the hills to outflank and besiege the Qin army.
This arrangement was very targeted. For the Qin army, which had just won a victory and was in high morale, with rocket launchers and flintlock rifles in hand, it was easy for them to use the strategy of capturing the leader first after seeing Yang Jier's flag, and directly attack Yang Jier in order to make a quick breakthrough.
After Su Jin arrived with his troops, one of his generals suggested that they break through by force and kill Yang Jier immediately between the two mountains.
Li Sheng also said: "General, let me go. The main forces of Kazakhstan are here. As long as we kill Yang Jier in one fell swoop, the overall situation will be settled."
Staff officer Qian Da warned, "General, be careful of the enemy's ambush. The two mountains are sandwiched together, and the width in the middle is only two miles. Once our army rushes in, even if we can break through quickly, we will easily be attacked from both sides, and the front and rear will be cut in half."
Yang Zaicheng said: "Although what Chief of Staff Qian said is not without reason, we don't have much food and grass left, and we can't waste time here with Yang Jier for a long time. Moreover, the longer we waste time, the more troops Yang Jier can mobilize.
According to the intelligence we have so far, the total military strength of the Kazakh Khanate alone has reached 150,000. It's just that because Kazakhstan is a vast territory, these hundreds of thousands of troops are distributed among the lords of various places. We advanced too quickly, and Yang Jier didn't have time to recruit all of them."
This made everyone feel a little troubled. If they attacked head-on, the enemy might have set traps. But if they continued to waste time like this, it would obviously be more and more disadvantageous to them.
Su Jin took a telescope and observed the enemy positions a few miles away, then took out a map to examine it carefully, and asked the guide in the army to confirm that there is another road to Turkestan City 20 miles south of here, passing Hongqiao and Kerr. He said calmly: "This is the battlefield chosen by the enemy. No matter if there are traps or not, it is certain that it must be beneficial to the enemy. Why do we have to fight the enemy here?"
Another staff officer, Wang Yu, immediately said, "The general is saying that we should leave Yang Jier behind and attack Turkestan City?"
Li Sheng said worriedly, "General, this is not appropriate. As the saying goes, to capture a thief, you must first capture the leader. If we ignore Yang Jier and attack Turkestan, what if Yang Jier doesn't fall for it? Even if we conquer Turkestan, it won't make much sense if Yang Jier runs away with the main force."
Su Jin said firmly: "Then we have no choice but to take a gamble. After all, Turkestan is the capital of Kazakhstan. It is not a place of high rank. I believe that Yang Jier will not give up easily unless it is absolutely necessary. As long as he still wants to protect Turkestan, he will inevitably be led by us."
"I agree with the general's strategy."
"I agree with that, too."
... ... ...
Most of the generals supported the strategy proposed by Su Jin. In order to maintain speed, they usually carried very little food and fodder with them, enough for two to three days at most. Therefore, they could only keep on attacking and fighting to support themselves. Once they were delayed, the food and fodder would soon run out. This was why all the generals supported Su Jin.
Moving forward, constantly moving forward, and constantly taking supplies from the enemy's civilians, this is their way of survival.
So, after arranging everything and anxiously waiting for the Qin army to attack, Yang Jier suddenly received a report from a scout: "The Qin army has taken a detour to the south."
“What? This this this…”
"Great Khan, this is bad. The Qin army is going to bypass Hongqiao and attack our capital..."
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ps: Here is the second update. For those of you who still have monthly tickets, please support me. I will update as usual in the evening! (To be continued..)
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