novelhk Page 2640
Page 2640
This man was forced to defect to the Ming Dynasty by Zhong Xiang's younger brother, and later served as a garrison commander in Guangxi.
He was very skilled at suppressing barbarians, which is why Yang Zaixing chose him.
Li Herong led only 500 new soldiers and 500 garrison troops, and set up camp at key passes.
To his west lies the Longmen Pass (later known as Longmen Pass), to his southeast is Hengpo Ridge, and to his south are mountains where enemy troops might appear.
Yang Zaixing left the laborers at Guanqian Pass and led the rest of his troops to attack Hengpoling.
At this moment, Liu Chun, the Annamese general, climbed the mountain and looked out. He immediately exclaimed with delight, "The enemy general is arrogant and conceited. He has only sent a small number of troops to guard his flanks and rear."
"We will hold this position and send troops to attack their rear."
"Once we win, we can press our advantage and block the enemy's main force from both the front and rear at the foot of the mountain!"
Liu Chun ordered his soldiers to defend Hengpo Ridge to the death, and sent people to inform the garrison in the direction of Longmen Pass. He even dispatched two hundred elite troops to launch a surprise attack from the south.
Yang Zaixing led the main force forward, dragging cannons along.
His army's artillery consisted mostly of small cannons, with only two capable of being used for attacking fortified positions, and even those two cannons had relatively small calibers.
However, the Anan Fortress on Hengpoling is a weak earthen and stone structure, far less capable of defending against artillery shells than a rammed earth wall.
The problem was finding the right angle to fire. Several squads of infantry protected the gunners as they searched for suitable firing positions.
The remaining troops were also sent to occupy the nearby mountains.
……
Li Luohan led two or three thousand barbarian soldiers out in full force to attack Li Herong's troops from the direction of Longmen Pass.
Although Li Luohan was a chieftain of a barbarian tribe, his biological mother was a princess of the Ly Dynasty in Vietnam.
He was also granted the imperial surname Li, and being a devout Buddhist, he changed his name to Li Luohan.
These barbarian tribes are already being assimilated by Annam.
"There are enemies to the west!"
On a hillside to the north, Ming soldiers were observing the situation with binoculars.
After Li Luohan led his troops out of the mountains, they were immediately spotted by Ming army lookouts.
Upon seeing the lookout's flag signal, the light cavalry rushed over to report the enemy situation.
Li Herong said to the soldiers who were resting cross-legged, "Form ranks and fight the enemy!"
Five hundred newly recruited field soldiers and five hundred garrison troops slowly rose and quickly formed ranks.
Not only were these new soldiers very calm, but even the garrison troops were not afraid at all. The Ming army had long since gained confidence.
Chapter 3606 Kill!
The new army was equipped with flintlock muskets and deployed in an improved firearms formation.
The garrison troops, however, did not possess flintlock muskets and continued to use the old-style Mandarin Duck Formation.
However, the wolf-mounted infantry was discontinued and replaced with crossbowmen and spearmen.
Li Luohan led his troops to attack, only to find that there were only a thousand Ming soldiers. He was overjoyed and shouted, "They are outnumbered! If we break through, we will win! Charge!"
Two or three thousand Annamese barbarians charged in a chaotic mess, their formation completely disordered.
They even knew how to outflank, sending hundreds of men from each side to flank the Ming army.
"Boom boom boom!"
About forty paces apart, several small cannons of the new army fired grapeshot.
The Annamese barbarian soldiers suffered few casualties, but many were wounded.
Some people were hit by the shotgun shells and had their bones broken, while others didn't even have their bones broken. The power of this small cannon was too weak.
The effect was obvious; the wounded barbarian soldiers screamed, causing panic among their allies.
"Bang bang bang!"
About thirty paces apart, the various squad leaders of the new army led their musketeers in firing freely.
After a burst of gunfire, the Annamese barbarian soldiers began to panic.
Despite suffering relatively few casualties from continuous attacks by muskets and cannons, the Annamese barbarians were gripped by fear in the face of the unknown.
Some continued to charge forward, some stopped to observe, and some even began to retreat.
Barbarian soldiers rely on nothing more than their bloodthirst and courage.
It'll be good if we can bring them to their senses.
"Archery!"
What followed was a volley of crossbow fire from the garrison's Mandarin Duck Team.
"Juggle!"
The garrison also had rattan shield bearers, whose giant shields had legs so they could be placed on the ground without being supported by their hands.
Together with the shield bearers, they drew their javelins and hurled them at the Annamese barbarians.
Each shield bearer is equipped with three javelins.
After throwing three javelins, the crossbowmen began the second round of firing.
The flintlock musketeer was also about to finish reloading.
At this point, the enemy, after encountering muskets and cannons, faced two rounds of crossbows and three rounds of javelins.
These barbarian soldiers were in complete disarray. More and more were fleeing or stopping, and fewer and fewer dared to charge. Many of them stood still and fought back with earthen bows.
Li Luohan was also terrified, but he still shouted the order: "Charge and we'll win! Charge!"
However, Li Luohan's main force only had a few hundred soldiers; the rest were soldiers from other tribes.
Just as Li Luohan was charging forward, a tribal chief led more than two hundred people in a rout.
"Bang bang bang!"
The new army's flintlock musketeer finally fired a second shot.
Because the distance was so close, the hit rate was close to 100%.
Li Luohan, who was charging ahead, was suddenly shot and fell down.
Li Herong drew his sword and shouted, "Form ranks and advance!"
As the bugle sounded, a thousand Ming soldiers marched forward in formation.
Meanwhile, the Annamese barbarian soldiers had already collapsed.
The barbarian soldiers under Li Luohan's command didn't even care about his corpse; they all turned and fled towards Longmen Pass.
The true power of the Mandarin Duck Formation has not yet been fully unleashed, as the two sides have not yet engaged in close combat.
Li Herong left 200 reserve troops to continue guarding the original position, while the remaining 800 men pursued at full speed to capture the fortified village in the direction of Longmen Pass.
More than twenty Ming light cavalrymen riding Southwestern ponies also chased after the collapsing Annamite barbarian soldiers, hacking and slashing all the way.
Two hundred elite Annamite soldiers who had crossed the mountains from the south were so frightened by the sight that they immediately retreated and dared not enter the battlefield again.
While Li Herong captured the fortified village in the direction of Longmen Pass, Yang Zaixing was still selecting a location to test the cannons.
"Get out!"
Upon learning that the allied fortress had fallen, Liu Chun was so frightened that he abandoned the fortress and retreated with his entire army.
If they don't leave now, the Ming army can cross the mountains from the west and outflank them in a day or two, blocking their retreat.
The Annamese garrison retreated all the way to the vicinity of Lang Son and sent messengers back to Thang Long Prefecture to frantically request reinforcements.
Instead of pressing his advantage and attacking Lang Son, Yang Zaixing ordered the local troops of Yongzhou to guard the passes of Menzhou.
He led his troops to attack Qiyuan Prefecture in the northwest.
Qiyuan Prefecture was established during the Tang Dynasty and later belonged to Qixi, Lang Son Province, Vietnam.
This area was formerly a tributary territory of the Northern Song Dynasty, gradually came under the control of the Ly Dynasty of Vietnam, and then was controlled by Nong Tri Gao and his son.
After the Northern Song Dynasty recaptured the territory, it was impossible for them to station troops there for an extended period, so they tacitly accepted Annam's occupation of Qiyuan Prefecture.
After conquering Qiyuan Prefecture, the next step northwest was Guangyuan Prefecture, which was territory conquered by the Northern Song Dynasty and then granted to Annam.
The Ministry of War's order to Yang Zaixing was to inflict a heavy blow on Annam, not to annihilate it.
Therefore, Yang Zaixing's desire to reclaim the lost territories of the Northern Song Dynasty would be a great achievement!
...
The Dinh and Le dynasties of Vietnam had a standing army of 100,000.
Although it was called a standing army, it was actually not even as good as the garrison troops of the Song Dynasty.
They don't recruit soldiers based on household registration; anyone willing to join the army can sign up.
Moreover, they didn't receive any pay, only a single meal. Some units weren't even given any food; their rations were embezzled by the officers at each level.
If there is a war and there are not enough soldiers, they will conscript men.
After the establishment of the Joseon Dynasty, a series of reforms were implemented.
One of the most important reforms was to provide soldiers with rations and pay.
The tax on one mu of land increased by three sheng of rice, and all the increased tax revenue was used to support the army.
Chapter 3607 Yellow Register Registration
Men were registered in the Yellow Register at the age of eighteen and in the Big Yellow Register at the age of twenty.
When conscripting soldiers, the large yellow registers are conscripted first, and if that's not enough, the small yellow registers are conscripted.
It exploded!
First, their combat power exploded, crushing all enemies, both domestic and foreign.
Then came the financial explosion, and the standing army grew larger and larger. This tiny country was supporting over 100,000 standing troops, all of whom needed to be paid.
Let's not talk about whether or not there's any embezzlement, because the imperial court has to allocate grain.
For the past two or three decades, Annan has been reducing its military.
Since the reductions, the standing army has only 50,000 to 60,000 men left.
Now facing encirclement from all sides and with limited manpower, they have no choice but to conscript soldiers again according to the Yellow Register.
"Your Majesty, the Golden-Toothed Barbarians have agreed to withdraw their troops!" Grand Tutor Zhang Boyu rushed to the palace to pay his respects.
Li Yanghuan was overjoyed: "Really?"
Zhang Boyu said, "Absolutely true."
A four-way attack is unsustainable; diplomatic means must be employed.
The newly formed Jinchi Kingdom, which had just become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, broke its alliance to send troops together.
In any case, the Ming Dynasty had already officially appointed the King of Golden Teeth, so obtaining this title would grant them legitimacy.
I don't care about breaking the alliance and offending the Ming Dynasty; I won't accept it even if you take back the king's golden seal.
No matter how powerful your Ming Dynasty is, come and attack me from the lands of Dali and Annam!
The fact that the Golden Teeth Kingdom was willing to offend the Ming Dynasty to withdraw its troops naturally brought benefits to the kingdom: Annam acknowledged that the vassal tribes within Laos would henceforth belong to the Golden Teeth Kingdom.
The southern front is still embroiled in fierce fighting.
Thirty thousand Annamese troops faced off against eighteen thousand combined forces from Champa and Cambodia.
The northern front appears to have come to a standstill.
40,000 Annamese troops gradually gathered in the Lang Son area.
Yang Zaixing only ordered the local soldiers to defend the passes, while he led the main force to attack Qiyuan Prefecture and Guangyuan Prefecture.
The two states are in dire need of help and have requested reinforcements from Annam.
Annam remained indifferent, determined to defend Lang Son to the death.