Chapter 993: Successive Victories
The first ambush on the Yanze battlefield came to an end, and the battle report of the Second Battalion was quickly sent to the hunting camp in the east. However, the timing of sending the letter was not right. Qubing had already led the First Battalion to deploy defenses at the target locations.
More than 800 Shen Ce Guards, plus a thousand militiamen composed of hunting teams, nearly 2,000 people were divided into three groups to lock on to a target. The war was about to break out, and it was unknown when it would start.
The battle report sent by the Second Battalion could only be left in the hunting camp. Now that the troops had entered the mountains, no one knew where they were. They only hoped that the First Battalion led by Qubing would not make the same mistakes as the Second Battalion and cause unnecessary casualties.
However, Qubing did not know this at the moment, and it would not matter if he knew it. Compared with the Second Battalion, the First Battalion had a much greater advantage, because their militiamen were all composed of experienced hunters. Even without the help of the Shen Ce Guards, they could easily defeat a hunting team of cannibals by themselves.
They had no shortage of things like big nets and ropes. The hunting ground was originally a half-farming and half-hunting place. How could they lack such hunting tools? Moreover, in terms of the ability to catch prey, the militiamen in the hunting ground camp were obviously several levels higher.
Three companies each led a team of militiamen to the target location. Four days after everyone set out, the battle finally started.
The first team to fight was not the team that pursued the yaks, nor the team that pursued the alpacas. Instead, the team that pursued the giant deer was ambushed first. There was no other reason, because this group of giant deer was easier to catch. The cannibal warriors drove the giant deer into the woods early and entered the ambush point they had set in advance.
However, they did not know that the mantis stalked the cicada, and the oriole was behind. When they drove the giant deer into the woods, they also fell into the sight of the Han tribe.
The three companies of the first battalion of the Shen Ce Guards, plus two hundred militiamen from the hunting team, were responsible for ambushing this group of enemies. At first, the captain of the three companies planned to find a place to ambush, and then suddenly attack and catch the enemies in one fell swoop when they arrived, but the militiamen from the hunting team disagreed.
The centurions of the two hunting teams shook their heads like rattles and rejected the plan out of hand. The captain of
the three companies asked in confusion, "Then how do you think we should capture them?"
One of the militia centurions immediately said, "When the enemies gather together, no matter how we capture them, it will cause unnecessary casualties. You have powerful muskets, and it is not difficult to surround them and kill them all, but if you want to capture them alive, we dare not do it at that time. The two sides will be in a stalemate, and casualties are inevitable.
"In this case, we might as well wait until the enemies disperse before we act.
"They are here to hunt. When the bighorn deer get into the woods, the enemy will definitely disperse and enter the woods to collect prey. That is the best time for us to attack. We can first concentrate our forces to capture some of them, and then send a small number of people to block the others. After we are done with this side, we will turn around and capture the remaining enemies on the other side. This way, the success rate is higher and we will not suffer much damage. The only disadvantage is that it will be slower."
The captain of the third company thought about it and agreed immediately. So the entire third company ambushed in the woods in advance, and a large number of observation posts were released on the periphery.
After waiting for two days, when the scouts of the guard battalion contacted them and told everyone in the third company that the enemy was coming, they immediately took action.
The enemy drove the big-horned deer into the woods. The giant deer with huge horns on their heads, which usually looked very majestic, rushed into this place that foreshadowed death. The intricate low branches entangled their antlers, making it difficult for them to move. The predators behind them were pressing on step by step. The deer knew they were fooled, but it was too late. It was impossible to retreat now.
The two or three hundred cannibal hunting teams chased up from behind with strange laughter, as if they had seen a gluttonous feast, and ran towards the trapped deer in the woods.
However, just as everyone dispersed, there was a sudden explosion-like sound in the woods. The loud bang echoed in the mountains and forests for a long time, startling countless flying birds and also scaring the cannibal hunting team.
The third company commander led the first and second platoons, as well as two hundred militiamen, and rushed to the enemy on one side of the woods, which had only more than a hundred people. There were only more than a hundred enemies on this side, and they were extremely scattered, mostly ranging from a few to a dozen people, each hunting a trapped big-horned deer.
The third company commander seized this opportunity and led more than three hundred people to pass through the middle, immediately dispersing the enemy into several groups that could not be taken care of at the front and the rear. A small number of Shen Ce Wei soldiers took the lead in firing, taking the initiative to kill and injure one person, and frightening the enemy first.
The militiamen of the hunting team also immediately played their role, carrying shields and approaching quickly, consuming the enemy's arrows and stone axes and spears, and when they got close, they quickly threw out a large net to cover the enemy. The soldiers of Shen Ce Wei continued to be responsible for watching the scene and maintaining law and order, and whoever did not cooperate would be caught first.
More than one hundred people were divided into more than a dozen scattered soldiers, and were quickly eaten up by the main force of the third company. The three platoons of the third company, the first and second platoons were all following the militia to capture people and stabilize the situation, while the remaining three platoons were responsible for dealing with the remaining enemies to prevent them from escaping.
A platoon has nine squads, and these nine squads act as squads. Each squad is formed into a battle group of three people, and the remaining more than one hundred enemies are firmly trapped in the net formed by the twenty-eight battle groups.
The battle over there ended quickly after it started, and then the main force immediately turned around and rushed to the remaining enemies. More than one hundred people failed to form any strong resistance and were captured by the main force of the third company again.
Finally, everyone gathered together and counted the results of the battle. It was found that all enemies were annihilated. In addition to killing and seriously injuring 26 enemies, the remaining more than two hundred people were all captured, while the three companies and two hundred militias on the Han tribe side did not have any casualties.
Such an outstanding record is of course due to tactical advantages and strong personnel.
The two militia centurions were both hunting experts. They were very good at organizing the action and actually doing it, which made the third captain very happy.
"You two brothers did a good job this time. I will definitely ask the commander for credit for you. Based on this record, the boss will definitely not treat you unfairly." The third captain happily expressed his willingness to share the credit with the militia brothers.
The two militia centurions didn't care much, only one of them said.
"It's nothing. In our opinion, this kind of battle of capturing people is no different from hunting wild animals at ordinary times. We also do this and rely on hunting for a living. You are different. If the task this time is not to capture prisoners, but to kill all the enemies, then you can just send a platoon to complete the task."
The third captain nodded and said no more. Indeed, capturing people is not their strong point. On the contrary, the militia of the hunting team is more familiar with it. The biggest role of their Shen Ce Guards is to kill people, which is a bit of a pity.
Originally, they trained their marksmanship to see who could shoot more accurately, but who knew that when they were on the battlefield, the commander ordered them to shoot at the ground and try not to hurt the enemy. You can imagine how frustrated they were.
The sharpshooters of the Shen Ce Guard could only shoot at the ground. If they told others, they would be laughed at.
"Okay, let's not talk about this for now. Now that all the enemies have been captured, let's see how many of those big-horned deer we can catch. The chief envoy and the commander still want these beasts."
The two militia centurions nodded and led their hunting teams to the big-horned deer trapped in the woods.
This time, the cannibals undoubtedly made wedding clothes for the Shen Ce Guard. After following them for several days, the big-horned deer that finally got to the woods were all picked up by the Han tribe. They put ropes on the deer and then cut off their horns. So these more than 200 tall big-horned deer became the harvest of the three companies.
On the other side, the company ambushed in the canyon was also waiting for the news of the cannibal hunting team coming. After hiding for three days, suddenly one afternoon, everyone heard a rumbling sound of running in the mountains. Not long after, they saw the cannibal hunting team yelling and holding torches, driving a group of panicked yaks into the canyon with cliffs on both sides.
One end of the canyon was blocked by ice and snow. This was the terrain that the cannibal hunting team had scouted in advance. As long as they drove the yaks into it and blocked the other end, they would have no chance of escaping.
A large group of more than 500 yaks rumbled into the valley, and the cannibal hunting team following them immediately pushed down huge ice blocks from the top of the canyon on both sides, completely blocking the canyon, and the yaks would never be able to escape.
The yaks found that they had entered a dead end, and immediately turned their heads, with red eyes, and rushed towards the ice wall behind them, but in the end they crashed into the ice wall and bled, but they still couldn't find a way out.
Outside the ice wall, a group of more than 300 cannibal hunting teams stood on a huge block of ice and looked at the prey inside, and couldn't help laughing wildly.
More than 500 yaks, this group would definitely not be that large in summer, but in winter, large herbivorous mammals will spontaneously gather together to survive the hard times, sheep and cattle are no exception.
As long as they guard this place and keep an eye on this group of yaks, so much meat will be enough for their two villages to eat for several months.
Everyone laughed and panted outside the ice wall, and white mist kept coming out of their mouths and noses. They were tired.
They spent a lot of effort to drive this group of yaks into the canyon in front of them. They chased the herd of yaks for several days, and shouted while running on the rugged mountain road, shouting loudly to scare the yaks and not let them stop to rest. In order to stop the yaks from running in other directions, they chased and intercepted them everywhere. After so much effort, they finally saw these results in front of them.
Everyone couldn't help laughing happily, their hearts full of a sense of accomplishment.
However, everyone suddenly stopped laughing. Some Totem warriors who didn't know why found the atmosphere around them a little weird, so they stopped laughing wildly. Then they looked behind them and suddenly found that more than 600 Han warriors holding weapons and large shields appeared behind them quietly, blocking the canyon tightly. The faces of the cannibal hunting team suddenly darkened.
The Han soldiers in front of them were more than twice as many as them, with sophisticated weapons and cotton clothes that looked very thick and warm. They were obviously well prepared to rob them of the fruits of victory.
The captain of the first battalion sneered at the more than 300 enemies in front of him. Behind him were more than 250 Shen Ce Wei soldiers holding muskets and 400 experienced militia hunters. When he saw that the enemies in front of him were tired and weak, he immediately shouted.
"The enemy has been chasing the yaks for several days. Now is the time when they are most tired. Everyone, follow me and charge forward to capture them alive."
"Charge!"
Bang, bang, bang, bang————
The charge of the crowd was mixed with chaotic gunfire. More than 300 enemies, who were at the end of their strength, encountered more than 600 elite troops who were well-armed and waiting for the opportunity. The enemy collapsed at the first touch and did not organize an effective resistance at all. They were all captured by a company of soldiers and 400 militiamen, and no one on their side was seriously injured or died, only a few were slightly injured.
The hunting team chasing the yaks was also successfully captured by the Han tribe. On the contrary, the yaks in it were difficult to deal with. Of course, if they were just going to die, it would be much easier, just shoot them all, but the order from above was to capture them alive, just like the group of prisoners.
Although there were a large number of herdsmen warriors in the Shen Ce Guard, the habits of yaks and grassland cattle were completely different. Moreover, this was not a grassland, but a very closed canyon. The herdsmen warriors did not have any good solutions. Finally, they reported the news to Qu Bing, and then Qu Bing came up with an idea to use the method he saw Luo Chong catch cattle when he was a child.
First, make a narrow passage that can only allow one cow to pass through, and then burn iron hooks to ring the noses of the cows one by one. Now it is winter, and the wounds are not easy to get infected, so everyone used this stupid method to deal with the cattle in the canyon.
It took less than half an hour to capture the prisoners and end the battle, but it took them nearly half a month to capture this group of yaks.
When the people of the first company and the militia led more than 500 yaks and escorted 300 prisoners back to the camp, they found that the second and third companies had already returned to the camp. Not only were the deer and alpacas captured, but the number of prisoners was also about the same as expected before the war, and they were all captured alive.
After returning, Qubing also received the battle reports from the Yanze camp and the Hekou position. After thinking for a while, he immediately wrote a long letter to Luo Chong, reporting the situation here in detail.
It included his strategic plan, the three-party garrison, the multi-line war, and the various steps to fight the cannibals; in addition, he also talked about his own evaluation plan and some of his own analysis. Finally, there were the battle reports of these large and small battles and their achievements.
So far in the war, the Shen Ce Guards have captured nearly two thousand young and strong prisoners. This number is not too many or too few, but the situation is there. It is not a decisive battle. Moreover, if a decisive battle is fought with the enemy, it will be because of the lack of troops on our side. We will not lose. After all, we have muskets in our hands, but we cannot capture so many prisoners. So this matter needs to be considered in the long run.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
