mesbooks Chapter 276 Search and Elimination
Chapter 276 Search and Elimination
With the existing hundreds of thousands of civilians and 5 infantrymen, the food pressure in Jerosburg increased dramatically. Kokoytu had no choice but to send a messenger with a large amount of gold and silver jewelry on horseback westward to ask for help from Kariwumu, the commander of the Eastern Route Army of the Five Rivers Flying Army.
On February 20, while heavy snow was falling on the Chahar grassland in the north, the envoy sent by Kokoyitu arrived at the Kaliwumu camp.
Although he knew in his heart that they had come to plead for help, he certainly couldn't outwardly appear as a beggar in dire straits. The ambassador negotiated with Kalyu for two days, even threatening that if he didn't rescue Jerrosburg, Dayuan would surrender. At that point, the allied forces of nearly 30 would surely leave Kalyu with a bitter regret and a difficult choice between advancing and retreating.
Kariwumu, of course, wouldn't give in easily. It wasn't like he was begging for help; the other party was acting so arrogantly. In the end, he forced the Dayuan envoy to sign a treaty agreeing to purchase military provisions and cede 20 square kilometers of land after repelling the Chinese. Of course, Kariwumu also sent 5 infantrymen to reinforce Jerrosburg, with the military expenses naturally borne by Kokoytu himself.
Thus, the 20-strong allied army of Dayuan and Wuxi Feijun deployed a spiderweb-like defensive formation in the westernmost province of Dayuan, Jeros.
According to Ustuku's analysis, Jerosburg could not withstand the Chinese attack, so he deployed defenses in major cities, castles, mountaintops, riverbanks, canyons and other places across the 20 square kilometers of land in Jeros Province, with 1 to 2 soldiers stationed in each location.
If they can rely on the terrain to resist, that would be best. If not, they should retreat to the nearest place. Other nearby garrisons should not hold their positions in the city. Instead, they should take the initiative to attack the Chinese army's logistics units or harass their supply lines, keeping the Chinese busy and unable to cope.
Ustuku, of course, was unaware that the main objective of the Chinese Empire's expeditionary force was to attack the capitals of various countries and nominally occupy their entire territories. If the opportunity arose, they would also eliminate the enemy's main force; if not, they would wait until the capitals and major cities along the route of attack were stabilized, then use these cities as bases for searching and eliminating more enemy forces.
Where the Chinese army is stationed, the armies of the Central Asian countries will never have the possibility of launching a counterattack. This is the ultimate strategy for the Chinese to conquer the eight Central Asian countries in the fastest time, and of course, it will not be easily revealed.
On February 25th, Zhao Yun's army of over 100,000 set off from Guishan City and headed straight for Jerosburg, completely ignoring the garrisons in other parts of Jeros Province. The remnants of those troops could be dealt with slowly after the arrival of the troops from the homeland.
As for the logistics and supply lines, a division has a logistics force of nearly 20,000 men, while Zhao Yun's main force has a logistics force of 40,000 men. Their combat effectiveness is not much lower than that of the main force. If the enemy's raiding force has less than 20,000 men, they will only be sent to their deaths.
With over 20,000 troops, such a large-scale enemy operation would naturally be detected by the main force's scouts, and Zhao Yun would lead his troops back to reinforce and kill the enemy's main force.
On this same day, after three days, the ice on the Xichuan River completely melted into flowing water, and Gao Shun's more than 20 troops prepared for the Xichuan River Battle.
During their two-month rest period in Chahar, the Northern Route Army hastily produced a large number of crossbows and catapults and transported them to the north bank of the Xichuan River, secretly preparing to give the Wuxi Flying Army on the opposite side a huge surprise.
As mentioned earlier, launching a full-scale attack from all five river-crossing points would inevitably result in huge losses and be counterproductive. However, if only one location is attacked, Chen Er can easily redeploy his troops and focus on defense.
With 2 defenders, 5 cavalry, and numerous powerful crossbows deployed along the riverbank over the past decade, it was unlikely that they could take the city in one fell swoop.
The result of the meeting was naturally to "openly repair the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass," using crossbows and catapults to launch a strong attack on one place, giving Chen Er the illusion that he was crossing the river there, and causing him to send all his troops there to defend.
We will send another elite cavalry unit to launch a river-crossing operation from another location to see if we can successfully cross the river.
On February 26, after a day of preparation, Gao Shun's army launched a night attack at 3:00 AM on the fourth crossing point of the Xichuan River. In the darkness, countless stones and crossbow bolts flew across the river, landing on the front lines of the Wuxi Flying Army, provoking a fierce counterattack from Chen Er's garrison.
Taking advantage of the long range of catapults and ballistae, the Chinese army carried out an "artillery barrage" for about an hour. Then, Song Xian's 3rd Cavalry Brigade of the 112th Division launched a river crossing attack in this section of the river that was more than 100 meters wide.
Thousands of cavalrymen on tall horses charged towards the Xichuan River, firing crossbow bolts at the opposite bank, followed closely by a large contingent of cavalrymen. The crossing operation began at the fourth crossing point.
After firing two volleys of crossbow bolts, the cavalry, with their undiminished charging speed, suddenly entered the river. Despite the icy cold water, these well-trained horses charged in the designated direction.
By the bright firelight on both banks, it could be seen that less than ten meters into the river, more than thirty of the first batch of forty or fifty cavalrymen were suddenly thrown into the water. The horses neighed in pain and kicked and jumped wildly, hesitating in the river.
The remaining twenty cavalrymen advanced less than five meters before being thrown into the river by their frenzied horses. The cavalrymen following behind, charging with all their might, were unable to stop in time, trampling and injuring several of their fallen comrades. Dozens more cavalrymen followed in the footsteps of the vanguard, also being thrown into the river by their horses.
Unaware of the situation in the darkness, the cavalry, who had already ceased their charge and were standing in the river, had no choice but to retreat while shouting and enduring a barrage of arrows from the Five Streams Flying Army's defenders.
Seeing that the attack was stalled, Song Xian stood 200 meters away on the north bank and shouted for the troops behind him to stop. He fired crossbow bolts to suppress the attack on the opposite bank while rescuing the soldiers and horses that had fallen into the water.
The cavalry charge lasted less than half an hour before they were forced to retreat in disarray. Apart from a few soldiers trampled to death or injured by their own men, the dense rain of arrows from the Wuxi Flying Army's defenders caused the attacking cavalry to suffer hundreds of casualties, but they achieved absolutely no victory.
Song Xian is a historical figure.
After a period of chaos, all the troops withdrew to a safe distance, with only the engineers operating the crossbows and catapults continuing to fire in retaliation against the Wuxi Flying Army defenders.
"What happened? Why did it rush into the river and then stop?" Gao Shun asked, frowning, as he watched the battle from a makeshift wooden tower.
Xun You shook his head and said, "I don't know, let's go down and take a look!" The group followed Gao Shun down the tower and ran towards the front line.
Running into the chaotic cavalry ranks, several wounded cavalrymen who had unfortunately fallen into the water were explaining the situation to Brigade Commander Song Xian, holding several caltrops. Gao Shun grabbed one of the caltrops and said with a wry smile, "I didn't expect the Wuxi Flying Army to know how to make these things! Putting them in the river, there's practically no way to avoid them; you can't even see them!"
“I’m afraid the other crossing points are also covered with barbed wire, making it impossible to cross! The Wuxi Flying Army is cutting off their own transportation; they don’t even plan to enter the Chahar Grassland!” Yang Xiu said from the side.