When the news that the eight Khitan tribes collapsed during the Great Qingshan Battle, it passed over the steep mountains between the southern foot of the Daxinganling Mountains and the Yanshan Mountains, and along with the report, it spread to Jingzhou (near Hengshui City, Hebei Province) where Zhou Huai'an was located. , But he has a sense of absurdity that you fall down without much effort.
The Western Army of the Great Song Dynasty, which had been overpowered by my iron and blood for hundreds of years, until I was gradually destroyed by the rise of Jurchen, was able to continue to sling and violently looting by fire. It has long been known as the predecessor of the Liao Kingdom in the Southern and Northern Dynasties as Huaxia Zhengshuo; The Khitan Big Eight Division Alliance was broken up in such a battle
However, the battle reports and seizures sent back from the front are real and seemingly unpredictable. In this battle, more than 10,000 beheaded, twice as many as captured, and a monarch of the Lone Living Ministry (the leader of the leader) was beheaded. In addition, the monarchs of Laowen and Daji (collar leaders) were captured; there are countless other Khitan nobles, chiefs, and chieftains.
The most important thing is that although he ran away from the contemporary Hende Khan after the incident, he severely inflicted a severe damage on the royal family that was superior to the Babu, and at the same time captured the full set of ceremonial guards and many officials of the Khitan King’s account on the battlefield. And the heavy armor piled up like a mountain in the royal court. In other words, the king's account overwhelmed and suppressed the foundations of the various races in seven or eighty-eight.
Therefore, even if the rest of the Khitan tribes were not completely wiped out or destroyed without safety after the war, they were made to flee away in disarray; but according to the deduction and research of the staff, it was considered to be a heavy blow to the Khitan in disguise. The grassland forces headed by Babu will have war potential and military strength for at least the next decade or so.
After all, as a nomad with a relatively poor ecological environment on the grassland, a single economic system, and generally low productivity levels; the relatively settled Central Plains farming system has natural disadvantages and deficiencies in terms of population reproduction and basic resource output. ; At the same time, it is more vulnerable to the impact and threat of natural disasters.
In the successive wars, the young and middle-aged population who were killed or lost or escaped due to other reasons did not grow out quickly after harvesting them like leeks; not to mention, as a northeast regional powerhouse. The power, the process of the rise of the Khitan Babu, is also the primitive accumulation completed in the constant invasion and plunder.
Therefore, once the Khitan eight tribes show fatigue and weakness after the defeat, even if there is no victory and pursuit of the Central Plains, there will naturally be those surrounding forces that have long suppressed, invaded, and plundered, and even forced to become subordinate tribes of the grassland tribe, one after another. The backlash and retaliatory behaviors of falling into the pit; it has evolved into a new source of crises and turmoil.
Because in this situation, whether it is those other tribes who resisted and liquidated the enslavement and control of the Khitan people, or the Khitan people took the initiative to launch a war to plunder and annex other forces on the grassland in order to make up for their serious losses, it will usher in A new round of reshuffle of the grassland niche.
At least after referring to the opinions provided by the army and the staff, Zhou Huaian did not think that after the defeat, he lost a lot of basic disk and personal prestige, and finally escaped with his own body. It is also able to have enough authority and strength to continue to reintegrate and unite the remaining Khitan ministries.
Therefore, although it is not the most ideal result and achievement of the goal, it is also a surprise; therefore, Zhou Huaian originally planned to use several years of operation and infiltration, and then concentrate his efforts to defeat the root cause of the future border and foreign troubles. ; As a result, most of the processes were penetrated in advance by only relying on the teacher all the way.
Of course, the eight Khitan tribes of this era have shown signs that they have never been pure fishing, hunting, and nomadic peoples, and they are turning to farming and settlement in later generations; don't underestimate the farming and settlement of nomads, which also means Supplemented by a fixed living area and relatively stable output, they can survive the most difficult moments of the winter each year.
Then, after farming and settlement reach a certain scale, new settlements and cities will naturally form, as well as a handicraft foundation serving the corresponding settled population; such as mining pond salt, processing and storage of products such as fish and fur, iron smelting, and weapon armor. All of the manufacturing has been gradually developed on this basis.
After possessing the three basic elements of farming (fields), cities and handicrafts, nomadic peoples have gone from the ordinary seasonal borderline that the vast majority of people lived by the water and grass, and turned into an extinction; they gradually transformed into being qualified to break with the Central Plains dynasty. A decent threat from his wrist. Like the Huns in history, Rouran, Turks, and even later Mongolian.
And on another normal historical line, Yelu Abaoji, who took the position of the leader of the Diecha Department, also profited by developing the salt pond in the grassland territory while taking advantage of the endless war in the Central Plains and constantly stabbing Koubian, looting including A large number of Han people, including craftsmen, built cities on the grasslands to live together, and they were able to suppress the Qidan Babu to seize the dominance and advantages of the hereditary leaders and complete the foundation laying of the later Liao.
Of course, with the defeat of the Khitan Babu in this time and space, the possibility and opportunity that the Diecbe, headed by the Yelu clan wanted to rise, has never been thought of since then.
In this tens of thousands of battles, Zhou Huaian also noticed another key point through the experience summaries and post-war seminars provided by the soldiers in the front; that is, compared with the firearms in the Sino-Turkish war. The superiority of the generational disparity, which is quite well-formed, has been shown to be extraordinary after the upper reaches of the nomads.
This is because, compared to the long-range projection and suppression methods such as horn bows and hunting bows that nomads are good at, the firecrackers also show sufficient slinging advantages in terms of basic rate of fire, range, power, and durability; In addition to the slight shortcomings of Shanghai, the others are better than a lot.
At least compared to the Central Plains troops that came out of the chaotic battles in the town, the nomads’ armor rate and long-range protection methods are relatively poor; therefore, the firecracker array can be used to extend the range to kill and weaken in advance. , Disrupt the enemy's formation and momentum;
Coupled with the portability of firearm sub-drugs and the relatively energy-saving firepower continuity; it can be shown that the Khitans, who have the advantage of relative battlefield scale, actually fell short of the battle against the Taiping army in the car array most of the time; they could not be fully utilized. Come out of the expertise and advantages of mobile shooting.
On the contrary, it is easy to be broken up and disrupt the formation and momentum, and the wave after wave of offense is delayed, and even falls into a stalemate and continuous decline; not to mention the layout of the fortifications and the back is full of double shots. The cannon is out. At the critical juncture, the enemy blasted at the densest and most crowded place, and there were few that didn't collapse and spread out.
Therefore, the Liaodong dispatched army, which only carried portable rations for 15 days, relied on more than 20 six-inch (short-tube) mountain cannons and four-inch (light frame) field cannons carried by water on floating rafts, as well as a large number of sub-bases of several multiples. The medicine finally supported the car formation of the three firearms battalions and blocked the three-day and three-night attack by the Qidan ministries.
In contrast, the grenadiers and (Hale) rockets allotted by the military seem to be a little lackluster in battle; the former can only be effective until the enemy rushes to the front of the battlefield; the latter is in addition to portability. In addition, the relative accuracy and range of the artillery head is not satisfactory, and it can only hit fixed targets that can't run around.
If it weren’t for the last time when Liu Ren Gong’s cavalry raided Wang’s account, they would unexpectedly break the highlight of the last line of defense; nevertheless, instead of holding the position behind the bunker, the grenadier would be more likely to accidentally injure oneself during the active attack; strict training is required And rich experience can become a qualified grenadier.
Of course, as the supporting equipment of the firearms battle formation with the blunderbuss bayonet as the core, the vehicle walls, barbed wire and trenches carried by the army have also been fully tested and tempered in this battle; at least after a few battles, those who have been conquered The Yi Congjun (remoulding soldiers) became more awed and honest and submissive without discomfort.
Of course, after the original shrapnel and hand-machine gun science and technology trees are also clicked out, I believe that the nomads who were brutish and sturdy in history and have been tempted by the past can only become ethnic minorities who can sing and dance. , And the day of joining the big family of China will eventually come.
Therefore, even if this result is a bit unexpected and hasty, the next step is to implement one of the strategic plans planned in advance, and implement in advance the follow-up pursuit and expansion of the results of "the remaining braves should be chased after the poor, not the famous academic overlord."
For example, through the cavalry/riding clusters attacking in batches, water transportation is used as transportation guarantee and support along the river, and gradually deep into the hinterland of Songmo and Rao Le Dudu; there is no need to pursue direct killing and annihilation, and capture the results. Just make sure that during the whole summer to autumn, the remaining Khitan tribes are exhausted and unable to recuperate.
After all, although the grassland outside the Great Wall is large enough, water sources and grasslands suitable for large-scale grazing are relatively limited; while people can run away and hide in the wind, but livestock will not do well. If the distance of migration is longer, they will lose fat. They may even die from exhaustion and disease; then when winter comes, nature will naturally teach them the principles of life.
Therefore, when the productivity and economic system maintained by the animal husbandry collapse, the so-called nomads have become rootless trees and water without a source, and they can only rely on a wave of cannon fodder and scum to survive and die. Either desperate to rob other grassland tribes, or go south to the Koubian and fight a decisive battle with the waiting Central Plains army.
Therefore, after breaking down and eliminating the resistance of the established system in the first two years, we can then reorganize a large number of pawns and civilians along the river with relatively abundant water on the grassland, and start to build a number of blocks from the lower reaches of the river to the north. Shili, a comprehensive base with multiple functions of a fort/warehouse/post;
Because the nomads on the grassland lack the ability to attack fortifications, these strongholds do not need to use cement or bastion buildings. They can directly adopt relatively cheap and mature civil structures. After a small amount of garrisons and sufficient firearms and ammunition, they can be used. Effective deterrence and blockade of a large area; and then through seasonal river water transport to transport logistics and mutual support echoes, and then have a relatively long-term self-sustaining ability.
After the niche on the grassland becomes vacant, people will naturally migrate to try to fill it; then relying on the chain system of the garrison fortress formed by river water transport, it will be restrained and controlled; it will become semi-settlement and specialize in providing fur, Meat and livestock, and rely heavily on the exclusive livestock area of the Central Plains in terms of economy and defense;
Therefore, after defeating the Khitan and Xi people, the pilot fortress promotion policy in the northeastern region is just the beginning; when the operation is mature, it can be extended to the old places of Shuofang, Yinxia, Ganliang, and even Anxi and Beiting; In the traditional sense, the Mongolian Plateau was divided into the Mobei, Moxi, and Monan grasslands by the Great Desert, which were divided into fragmented nomadic areas with firearms and forts.
Although this may be a protracted and cost-intensive undertaking, once it has taken shape and achieved initial results, compared to the huge Yanbian garrison that was maintained in order to defend and prepare for the frontier and the garrison established to support and maintain the garrison in the past dynasties. The system is relatively fast and easy to save.
Therefore, when the tens of thousands of troops who took over and incorporated along the Caohe River, water and land, accompanied Zhou Huai'an formally arrived in Youzhou City, they came to welcome Li Kuangwei, the newly elected son of Li Quanzhong, and the temporary assistant. Jing Xiang, the nearly 1,000 civil and military subordinates under his leadership, welcomed the ceremony in a grand manner. (End of this chapter)