Chapter 1030: The flavor of the New Year before the New Year (Part 1)

After hearing the instructor's analysis, the two military commanders present fell silent. After thinking for a moment, the battalion commander clenched his fist and said fiercely.

"Since we are not at an advantage in the daytime, we will attack at night. I don't believe they won't sleep."

The militia captain Zai raised his eyelids and attacked without hesitation, "I really think they won't sleep. Look at their posture. Maybe they can refine some salt before dark and retreat at night. Then they will come again tomorrow. What can you do with them?"

The battalion commander was speechless after hearing this. The situation Zai said could really happen. Just look at the cautiousness of the enemy today. They are so cowardly. Maybe they will really pat their butts and leave as soon as it gets dark. Then there is nothing they can do to them.

The battalion commander anxiously turned around the room twice, his mind was working rapidly. If their commander Qubing was here, what would he do?

After thinking about it, he actually came up with an idea, which was to imitate the battle that Qu Bing led them to fight in the hunting ground area last month. Since it was difficult to break through from the front, they could sneak attack them halfway through the enemy's movement. The battalion commander thought more and more that it was possible, so he immediately made up

his mind and said, "There is a way. We can borrow the tactics of the battle in the hunting ground last month. Since we can't gain an advantage over the enemy here, and the enemy is still afraid of fighting and just wants to run away, then we can let them run away. We will set off now and go around behind them. Anyway, they have to send the refined salt back, so we will ambush them halfway through their return. I don't believe they won't sleep by then."

Zai and the instructor of the first battalion were all enlightened after hearing this. Yes, if it is difficult to fight from the front, then they can sneak attack from the back. Didn't Qu Bing lead them to fight like this last time? They can learn and apply it now.

"Good idea, but what if these 1,500 people go back together, or only 500 go back and leave 1,000 behind? What should we do? Or what if they don't go back and find that we are short of troops and attack us?" The instructor nodded and praised at first, but soon raised three possible consequences again.

Before the battalion commander spoke, the militia captain next to him gave an answer.

"This is easy to deal with. If the enemy goes back together, it will be the best. It will take at least three days to get back to the forest in the north. They will definitely camp on the way. That will be a good time for us to take action.

"If only 500 of the enemy go back, then we will eat up these 500 people on the way. Since the remaining 1,000 are not leaving, they will definitely camp here. We will have plenty of opportunities to deal with them then.

"As for the enemy not going back and attacking us directly, that's easy. Leave a company here to defend. You have muskets and are still in a defensive posture. It shouldn't be a problem for more than 200 people to stop their 1,500 people, right? As long as that company can hold out for a day or two, we can bring a large force back to support."

"Well, that's good. Let's do it this way. Then leave the second company here to defend. I will lead the first and third companies, the battalion reconnaissance team, and the 1,000 militiamen we killed to sneak attack them from behind. Instructor, you take the second company to guard the house here." After hearing this, the battalion commander thought about it and felt that there was nothing wrong with it, so he made the decision directly.

When the instructor heard that he was asked to look after the house, he couldn't help rolling his eyes. He also wanted to go to the front line to fight, but the task of looking after the house was also very important. In addition, he was the political chief of the Sima faction, so staying to look after the house was also part of his job, so he nodded and agreed.

"Okay, I'm the instructor, I'll look after the house, but you have to be careful too. If there's any situation, remember to report it in time so that I can pick you up when the

time comes." "Forget it. If we encounter a problem that our two companies plus a thousand militiamen can't solve, what's the point of telling you? I'll have to drag you in when the time comes." The first battalion commander waved his hand and said nonchalantly.

The instructor frowned when he heard this, "Then you have to send someone to tell me. If there's no problem, it's better. If there

's really a problem that can't be solved, I can ask the commander for help." "Okay, okay, if there's any situation, I'll definitely tell you, but I'd rather there's no situation." The first battalion

commander nodded helplessly in response. "It sounds like no one wants anything to happen. Isn't this just a precaution?" The instructor also muttered speechlessly.

In this way, the first battalion also formulated a detailed plan for this cowardly enemy.

After the plan was finalized, the battalion commander and the militia captain Zai immediately began to disperse and gather their own troops, calling those soldiers to the woods behind to assemble, to prevent the enemy from discovering their troop movements. After the troops were assembled, everyone took weapons, ammunition, dry food and handcuffs, and immediately began to march around.

At the same time, the instructor of the first battalion also led the soldiers of the second company of the first battalion to perform the empty city plan, and let the soldiers of the second battalion practice hard in the open space around the salt pond, running and shooting, to give the enemy on the opposite side the illusion that our main force was still at home, but they didn't know that those main forces had already circled behind them.

Just as the main force of the first battalion was moving behind the enemy, the cannibals at that time were still working hard to carry water and boil salt in the salt pond. It was unknown where these people got the pottery from, whether they had robbed it when they went south or made it themselves, but there was not much pottery, so the efficiency was low.

There are seven or eight salt ponds in total. They were all controlled by cannibals in the past. When Youye came a few years ago, he took most of them away, leaving only three for the cannibals. There

is brine with high salt content in these salt ponds. You can get salt by scooping it up and boiling it dry. However, if you want the salt to be cleaner, you have to filter it several times, but the cannibals obviously don't have the filtering technology.

The cannibals on the opposite side are all busy. Everyone now knows that the previous group of people disappeared strangely, so they don't want to spend the night here. They just want to finish the work and leave early. The laborers are like this, and the totem warriors are also uneasy. They look around or at the Han tribe on the opposite side nervously, fearing that they will suddenly attack, or a group of man-eating monsters will suddenly jump out from somewhere. Fortunately, until the evening, the Han tribe on the opposite side did not have any abnormal movements, which made them feel a little relieved. However, as night fell, these guys became more nervous.

The last batch of people disappeared inexplicably at night.

The instructor of the first battalion who was in charge of guarding the camp was not idle either. Although there were only one company of about 250 soldiers left at home, he asked the soldiers to light more than 300 bonfires. Under the dark night, more than 300 bonfires were very eye-catching, which once again gave the enemy the illusion that the Han tribe was at home.

However, despite this, those guys did not dare to stay here for long. They thought that they could come here to collect salt during the day next time, so why did they have to spend the night here and face unknown dangers?

So this group of guys packed up their salt-making tools, had dinner in the camp, and evacuated directly at around eight o'clock that evening with torches in hand. However, marching at night was a big taboo. First, it was not easy to identify the direction. Second, it was too cold at night. The warm clothing of these cannibals was definitely not as abnormal as the military coats of the Han tribe. The Han tribe could withstand the cold in the wild, but they might not. Third, they were easily attacked by carnivores in the wild at night.

So the 1,000 people in front did not go far. They first met up with the third echelon one kilometer behind them, and then the three echelons retreated five kilometers together to a campsite they often used, and then prepared to spend the night there. If there were no problems tonight, they would send dozens of people to deliver the salt back tomorrow, and then continue to collect salt in front tomorrow.

Although this was very troublesome, it was safer and could reassure most people. However, their decision also gave the first battalion an opportunity to launch a night attack.

After the scouts determined the enemy's final camping site, at twelve o'clock that night, the first battalion commander quietly approached with two companies and a thousand militiamen, preparing to launch another night attack. It

was late at night, and there were only the whistles of the wind blowing the branches in the woods, and the crackling sound of the campfire in the camp. Away from the salt pond, these cannibal warriors felt a little relieved, but the night watch sentries were still indispensable.

The battalion commander first sent a dozen militiamen armed with bows to touch the sentries. With the background noise of nature covering them, the militiamen successfully sneaked into the camp. Some even touched the back of the enemy sentries directly, and killed the enemies with daggers without even using bows and arrows.

After dealing with the sentries, the battalion commander once again used the previous tactics and sent a company to stun everyone. The process was also very smooth. Although the wind was a bit strong tonight, it just happened to cover up the footsteps of the soldiers. No enemy was awakened during the whole process.

But it was no wonder. They had been busy all day. The totem warriors stationed in the salt pond were in a high state of tension. Those responsible for collecting salt were also busy making salt. Everyone was tired all day and now they were all sleeping like dead pigs.

After knocking out all the enemies in the entire camp, the battalion commander once again adopted a similar approach as before, carrying all the captives away, leaving only a few old men to go back and report the news.

Of course, it was impossible to carry all the prisoners back this time because the distance was too far. The distance from the Han tribe to the camp in the salt pond was seven kilometers. They could not carry the prisoners that far, so they could only hide them in a hidden place and wait until the next morning to take them away.

However, the other most important thing was the white salt that the cannibals had refined today, which was also taken away by the Han tribe.

The Han tribe had to ensure that the enemy's supply of white salt was completely cut off. Only in this way could the enemy be forced to send people again. Otherwise, if they were asked to transport this batch of salt back, who knows how long they could eat it. Based on their cowardly attitude this time, they might not come until the next salt shortage.

The next morning, the few old men who were left behind woke up and suddenly found that the people in the entire camp had disappeared again inexplicably. They were so scared that they ran away, as if they were chased by wolves, and ran away without looking back.

The scout smiled at the figures going away, and then went back to report the situation. After confirming that the messenger had been released, the battalion commander began to lead the large force to escort the prisoners back, and also sent people to report the victory to Qubing. As for the prisoners captured this time, it would take some time before they could be sent to the river valley camp.

On the other side, after Qubing sent people to blast the ice surface of the river bend, he also set up blocking positions on both sides of the river bank. His tactics were also very simple. He blatantly blocked the road here. All the blocking positions were not concealed at all, and were placed directly on the road, just to tell the enemy, I have blocked your road, if you want to pass through here, you'd better be careful.

The reason for doing this is naturally not to really fight a positional war with the enemy, but to prevent the enemy from going south directly. As long as the enemy wants to go south from here, they will definitely find the position of the Han tribe, so the enemy will have to hesitate whether to take a detour or gather more troops to break through the blockade of the Han tribe.

As for Qubing, he didn't care what the enemy planned to do. The purpose of doing so was just to slow down the enemy's speed of moving south. If the enemy hesitated, then his goal would be achieved.

As long as the enemy dared to rest nearby for one night, Qubing would definitely lead the main force to launch a night attack. As for the front position, it was just a decoration to scare people.

Although it feels a bit vulgar and old-fashioned to always play night attacks, the tactics that have been useful since ancient times are the correct ones. As for whether it is old-fashioned or not, it doesn't matter as long as it can achieve the goal.

For the Han tribe, night attacks have great results and are easy, and there are no casualties. Therefore, this tactic must be carried forward. When there is an opportunity, a night attack should be carried out. When there is no opportunity, create an opportunity to carry out a night

attack. In the early thirteenth month of the first year of Da Ming, the war in the north has stabilized. Qubing's side has few battles to fight this winter. There are only two places where battles occasionally occur, Hewan and Yanchi.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, Luo Chong received a report from Qu Bing, reporting the results of their battles during this period. They had captured tens of thousands of prisoners, and the total number of prisoners was close to 30,000, and it was expected to exceed 30,000 by the end of the year.

However, Qu Bing also mentioned in the letter that the prisoners this time were not all young and strong cannibals, but most of them were cannibal civilians, the elderly, the weak, women and children. This kid said in the letter, anyway, the leader wants people, I have captured them for you, as for how to use them and how to arrange them, let Luo Chong make his own arrangements.

Qu Bing also said in the letter that if those elderly, the weak, women and children were useless, they could kill them themselves, saving the waste of food, and it would be troublesome to transport them back, occupying ships and so on. In the future, when they encounter such a team, they will not capture them, but it will be easier to kill them directly, and they can kill them all with a few rounds of muskets.

Luo Chong certainly wants these people. Compared with labor, food is nothing. Does the Han tribe lack food? !

At the end of December last month, the rice greenhouse in Weishan County had just completed the actual application experiment of the rice transplanter. It encountered a small problem, but it was solved by the agricultural machinery research and development team on the same day. Now it has begun finalized production and is preparing to promote it to the public before the New Year's Day.

The people in various counties of the Han tribe have also begun to prepare New Year's goods for the upcoming New Year's Day, which is the most important festival in the Han tribe.

(End of this chapter)