June twenty-seventh.
Hauge first ordered his troops to fight to the death, and then ordered someone to send the written official documents to Shengjing.
The battle started before the person delivering the documents left.
Both sides deployed large numbers of troops and engaged in fierce fighting on four battlefields.
The focus of both parties shifted from upstream to downstream.
The Ming army's strategy was simple: advance step by step and slowly.
Even if we can only advance one zhang every day, we must move forward unswervingly.
They used this gradual encroachment method to continuously compress Hauge's positions and fronts.
From June 27th to July 3rd, the Ming army advanced two miles in this way.
"Report!" In the evening, the herald came to the central military tent and reported to Hauge: "Prince Su, the Ming army is moving its camp forward again."
Hauge fell silent.
Theoretically, he could also follow the example of the Ming army and move his camp forward.
but...
Problems follow.
The width of the battlefield in the lower reaches of the Ningyuan River is limited. Moving the camp forward will compress the depth of the battlefield and reduce the battlefield space.
The advantage of the Eight Banners Army is mobility. Even heavily armored infantry can enter the battlefield as cavalry to fight.
The smaller the battlefield space, the smaller the advantage of the Eight Banners Army.
Furthermore, the Ming army had several times or even dozens of times more artillery than his.
When the enemy's camp came into the range of the artillery, it was obvious who would suffer greater casualties.
"Order all units to move their camps back fifty feet. Then dig several trenches overnight at the location of the existing camps. From tomorrow on, no longer take the initiative to attack, but instead defend the trenches."
......
"What? The Jiannu actually dared to dig trenches?" Upon hearing this news, Wang Yongji laughed out loud.
The generals were somewhat puzzled. "Why is the Governor laughing? Trench warfare has always been the Jiannu's strong point."
"Hahaha," Wang Yongji continued laughing, "I am laughing at Haoge for being so confused that he came up with such a stupid idea."
"Please clarify your doubts, sir."
"Haha," Wang Yongji laughed and then sneered, "Even the Ningyuan River failed to stop our army's advance, so a few trenches are even less likely to stop it! Order all units to build earthen hills and set up artillery beside the trenches."
The generals were stunned and left with laughter.
The Ming army first piled up an earth hill on one side of the trench, and then placed the artillery on the earth hill.
Then a large number of soldiers filled the trenches with various tools.
Whenever the Eight Banners soldiers launched an attack, they would be discovered by the Ming army on the hills and bombarded.
Although the casualties were not great, the shock it brought was great.
Seeing that the harassment was ineffective, Hauge decided to carry out the tactic of digging trenches to the end. "From today on, the troops in the lower reaches of the Ningyuan River will take turns digging trenches! Dig a trench every ten feet. Those who delay military operations will be executed!"
Because there were too many trenches, the Ming army had to fill them if they wanted to advance.
So.
The two sides started a competition of digging and filling ditches in the lower reaches of Ningyuan River.
The Eight Banners soldiers dug in the north, and the Ming army filled in the south.
At this time, what the two sides were competing for was not skills and tactics, nor command ability, nor morale, but the proficiency in earthwork operations.
Hauge originally thought that the Eight Banners soldiers were superior, but reality slapped him hard in the face.
There were a large number of bandits and surrendered soldiers and generals in the Ming army.
Many of them come from farming backgrounds and are good at digging.
In addition, when they were bandits, they would dig tunnels every time they attacked a city, so in terms of their proficiency in earthwork, no one was better than them.
And the most important point: digging a ditch is more difficult than filling it.
The two trenches that the Eight Banners soldiers dug in a whole day with great effort were filled by the Ming army in just half a day.
"Your Majesty!" The messenger came to Hauge with a sad face. He held an arrow in his left hand and a note in his right hand. "The Ming army sent troops to harass our army when it was digging trenches. The arrows they shot were very sharp.
There was a note tied to it. "
"What's it written?" asked Hauge.
The herald opened the note and placed it in front of Hauge, sticking out his tongue and saying, "Your Highness, you should read it yourself."
Haoge looked carefully and found seven words written on it: Dig quickly, waiting to be filled in!
Bang!
Hauge slammed the table hard, and the sharp sound was particularly harsh in the empty military tent.
"This is too much, this is too much!" Hauge cursed with gritted teeth.
"Your Highness, why don't we stop digging!" someone suggested.
"No," Hauge refused flatly, "The purpose of digging trenches is not to stop the Ming army, and it can't stop them! It's to slow down the Ming army's advance."
"Before digging the trenches, the Ming army advanced several dozen feet every day. After digging the trenches, the Ming army could only cross two or three trenches every day, and the speed of advancement was greatly slowed down."
"But..." a general sighed, "Digging trenches every day not only makes the soldiers exhausted, but also increases the consumption of food and grass."
"That's not a problem," Hauge said with a determined look. "There is enough food to eat. Only when you are full can you have the strength to dig trenches. Starting tomorrow, divide the team into three parts. One part will dig trenches during the day, one part will dig trenches at night, and the other part will be responsible for vigilance and defense against the enemy."
"Don't pile up the excavated soil, spread it out as much as possible."
"Yes, sir." The generals had no choice but to accept the order and leave.
Hauge picked up paper and pen and wrote another official document asking for help to Shengjing.
At this time in Shengjing City, the Eight Banners were debating whether to withdraw or send reinforcements.
"Our army is mainly composed of cavalry, and the Liaoxi Corridor is narrow, so we cannot exert our strength at all! It is better to retreat early and let the Ming army come in to fight." Duoduo spoke first.
"Not right," Jirgalang retorted, "Once we give up Ningyuan, the Liaoxi Corridor will be undefended! The Ming army can march straight to Jinzhou. Our army has stored a large amount of food and fodder in Jinzhou. Is there anything else to say?"
"Prince Zheng means to send more troops?" Duoduo asked.
"I didn't say to send more troops!" Jirgalang waved his hands quickly.
Duoduo reached out and threw Hauge's official document in front of Jirgalang: "The Ming navy landed at Tashan and went around, tying down a large number of Hauge's troops. Hauge's troops were not many to begin with, and now they are stretched even further. For this reason, he has been writing to the court for more than ten days in a row to request reinforcements."
"Prince Zheng neither increased nor withdrew his troops. Did he want Haoge and his 60,000-man army to die in Ningyuan?"
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