Chapter 1147 Midnight Sneak Attack

Gao Qiaonan was on a high slope about half a mile away from the Ming army's temporary camp. He used his binoculars to confirm that several riders had left the main force and headed northwest. He could roughly guess what the other commander did.

The purpose was to report the warning to Dengzhou City and ask for help, but the riders of the Ming Army were obviously not taking the same route, and it would be too difficult to intercept them all.

This mountainous area has a radius of dozens of miles. It is a little easier to guess the marching route of the large army. After all, there are many baggage and wounded in the army, and there are certain requirements for the traffic conditions. But the routes that these cavalrymen acting alone can take are too limited.

There are too many, not to mention that Gao Qiaonan only has about 200 people around him. Even if he adds ten times more people, it may not be able to block all the mountain roads leading to Dengzhou City. And Gao Qiaonan has no cavalry, so he wants to catch up.

It was not practical to ride on the opponent's horse, so he did not order to chase the Ming army riders, but stepped up to complete the control of the area near the Ming army's temporary position.

Dusk was approaching, and Takahashi Nan knew that the opponent was unlikely to choose to march overnight after continuous battles, so the Ming army would probably camp here for one night and wait until dawn before setting off. For him, this meant a whole day.

The later time can be used to make fuss and slowly deal with this Ming army.

Gao Qiaonan estimates that it is still about seventy or eighty miles away from Dengzhou, and the mountainous area accounts for about half of it. After leaving the mountainous area, it will be difficult for the special operations battalion to attack the Ming army in the same way as before. And in mountainous areas

Gao Qiaonan was not at all sure whether other friendly forces could rush ahead to block the Ming army's way out of the mountain. After all, it was too close to Dengzhou, and an overly conspicuous action might deepen the misunderstanding with the Dengzhou government.

And this is not the result Haihan wants.

There will be less than forty miles of mountain road left for the special operations battalion tomorrow. Takahashi Minami believes that after reflecting on today's setback, the other side's commander will probably not advance cautiously and slowly tomorrow.

The longer they stay in the mountains and forests, the more attacks they will suffer. Under the current circumstances, the best way to escape is to rush out of the mountains and leave this environment that is inconvenient for defense and counterattack as soon as possible.

If the opponent chooses such a response strategy, Gao Qiaonan's team will definitely not be able to intercept the entire Ming army. For the current plan, they can only cause damage to them as much as possible. If they can be captured alive or killed

It would be best to injure his general. After a brief discussion with several of his officers, Takahashi Nan decided not to wait for the next day, but to take action overnight, taking advantage of the fact that the Ming army was exhausted physically and mentally and had not yet recovered its physical strength to deliver a fatal blow.

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At midnight, Takahashi Minami personally led the team to find out the hidden sentries outside the Ming army camp. The positions of these hidden sentries were observed by Haihan military telescopes when they were deployed before dark, so not only were they unable to provide early warning in the dark night

Instead, it became a living target.

The positions of these hidden posts are actually chosen carefully. They are all located on tree branches several meters high. Firstly, the field of vision is relatively wide, and secondly, they are not easily attacked by wild beasts or enemies climbing up the trees. However, Gaoqiao Nan has to deal with such hidden sentries at high places.

I have a clever trick: send several people to slowly approach the location from different directions. After approaching within ten meters, without climbing a tree, one of them will make a noise to attract its attention, while the others will directly use crossbows and arrows to kill the hidden sentry.

This method of detecting sentinels was taught by Qian Tiandun, and remains as a compulsory subject in the special operations battalion to this day. Most of the soldiers in the same squad have trained this method together, and there is no need for temporary training to coordinate actions.

After solving the two hidden sentries, the route to the Ming army camp from the south was opened.

Because it was a night attack, Takahashi Minami was also worried that one of his own people would be accidentally injured if the battle started in too much chaos, so he simply gathered his subordinates together and prepared to launch an offensive from the same direction. This way, they would not be in chaos in the dark night.

It is convenient for Takahashi Minami to conduct unified command.

Takahashi Nan did not intend to fight with the Ming army. The effect he wanted this time was to defeat the Ming army in the shortest possible time, so everyone used rifles to fight. However, everyone also loaded their bayonets in advance.

, be prepared for close combat.

Guo Xingning has been feeling inexplicable anxiety since dark. It is clear that the Haihan people have stopped attacking, but he always feels that something is wrong. Guo Xingning thinks that it is unlikely that the Haihan people will suddenly withdraw their troops when the fight is going smoothly. Maybe they are hiding in the dark.

He was planning some other conspiracy. He summoned his officers to discuss the march route for the next day, and patrolled the camp several times before returning to the tent to rest.

After a tiring day, although Guo Xingning did not go into battle in person, he was already exhausted. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep. He didn’t know how long he had slept, but suddenly he heard a firecracker outside the tent in his sleep.

The sound of shooting sounded.

Guo Xingning sat up in shock and heard someone shouting outside the tent. He knew it might be a night attack by Haihan people, so he got up quickly. Because he was worried about something happening at night, he didn't take off his clothes and shoes when he went to bed. At this time, he grabbed

He grabbed his own saber and hurried out of the tent, just in time to bump into an officer who came to report.

Guo Xingning asked anxiously: "But the enemy is attacking the camp?"

The officer responded: "Your Majesty, the enemy troops are coming from the south, and the weapons they use are firecrackers. Our brothers were unprepared, and many people have been killed or injured!"

Guo Xingning shouted angrily: "Didn't the sentry in the south send a warning?"

The officer said anxiously: "The secret sentry outside the camp has no news for some reason. When the enemy was discovered, they had already entered the camp! Now whether to fight or to retreat, please give me the order!"

This Ming army temporarily camped in the mountains and forests, and had no time to build any defensive fortifications. They just deployed some hidden sentries at a certain distance outside the camp, leaving room for reaction after warning. After the hidden sentries were touched by the Haihan army, only

sent down the sentries on duty at the edge of the camp, but when these sentries issued a warning, the Haihan army had already approached and was knocked down by random gunshots as soon as the gong was sounded. The sleeping Ming army in the camp woke up and disappeared without knowing what was going on.

It is also difficult to organize immediately to launch a defensive counterattack.

Guo Xingning saw that the defeated troops were constantly escaping from the camp in the south, and he knew that it was almost impossible to collect the defeated troops in this dark night, not to mention that they were being ravaged by the Haihan army throughout the day.

The soldiers under his command have long lost the consciousness of resistance. Even if they can be gathered back, it will be difficult for them to continue fighting against the Haihan people in the current situation.

Before Guo Xingning could make a final decision, a group of his soldiers had already rushed over. They carried him onto the horse without hesitation, and then took the horse and hurriedly retreated to the north with the defeated troops. These people were also

Not only was he worried about Guo Xingning's personal safety, but part of the reason was that he was afraid that if his master suddenly became desperate and ordered a decisive battle with the Haihan people, all of them who were personal soldiers and followers would be trapped here and buried with him.

Guo Xingning knew that the situation was over, and he had no objection to the arrangement of the soldiers. What else could he do now besides escaping? If he really had to fight for his life against the Haihan people here, he would just die in battle. What if he was killed by the Haihan people?

If the Han people captured him alive and then used his life to threaten the Dengzhou government, wouldn't it be a great shame and humiliation? In both public and private matters, Guo Xingning had to save his life and escape back to Dengzhou City first.

The constant sound of gunfire from the south drove the Ming army to flee north in the dark night like a reminder. Some people panicked and fled into the woods and quickly separated from the team and lost their way forward. Some people were exhausted and ran

He fell to the ground while running.

Guo Xingning's luck was not much better either. Because he was worried about attracting pursuers, he did not dare to light a torch to illuminate the road. As a result, he escaped for more than a mile, but his horse stepped into a pit and broke his leg.

The distraught Guo Xingning also fell off his horse, but fortunately, he was caught by a soldier and was not injured. However, the horse that had been following him for several years could not be taken away.

At that moment, the soldiers gave Guo Xingning a horse to ride on and continued to move forward. As a result, he fell down again in exactly the same way before running very far. His luck was really bad. Now there was no spare horse around, so Guo Xingning could only choose to fight with him.

All his men fled on foot.

The raid launched by the Haihan Army at night went very smoothly, even beyond Takahashi Nan's expectations. He originally thought that the Ming Army would put up a symbolic resistance, but after the battle, he found that the opponent had no intention of fighting at all, and almost

He had already made the decision to escape when he discovered that an enemy was coming.

Gao Qiaonan was still afraid of being deceived and did not dare to pursue him. He still commanded his troops to clear the way with musket formations and advance layer by layer. It was not until the Ming army's camp was cleared that he discovered that the other side had not set up any ambush inside or outside the camp.

, but really just ran away without hesitation. Takahashi Minami felt great regret and quickly led his troops to continue the pursuit. However, they had an advantage in playing the role of pursuers, that is, they no longer had to worry about exposing their whereabouts and could light up torches to illuminate their whereabouts.

On the way forward, the marching speed will be slightly faster than that of the Ming army fleeing for their lives in the dark.

But in the dark night, it was impossible to find which direction the enemy general was fleeing to. Takahashi Nan could only judge the retreat direction of the main force of the Ming army from the various weapons and materials discarded by the defeated troops, and then move in this direction.

Keep pursuing. As for whether you can catch up with the enemy general, it all depends on luck.

The two groups were one behind the other, with only a few miles apart. The people fleeing in front could see the torches of the pursuers as long as they turned around, and they did not dare to stop. The Haihan army behind them refused to give up, just like that.

Reluctantly falling behind to catch up.

After escaping for almost two hours, a small river more than five feet wide appeared in front of the exhausted Ming army. It was unknown how deep or fast the water was in the dark night. The first few people who jumped in in a panic did not seem to have swam to the other side.

He disappeared into the river. Those who followed did not dare to follow him into the water and could only wait for the officer's instructions. However, when Guo Xingning heard the news, he was not worried but happy. He remembered that on the way back to Dengzhou from the current escape route,

There is such a small river. Just walk along the river bank to the west and downstream. There are many villages there and there will be bridges to cross the river.

Sure enough, after the Ming army marched about two miles downstream along the river bank, they found a stone bridge across the river. Everyone was overjoyed and hurriedly set foot on this escape passage. Guo Xingning was also relieved, because according to the

The mark on the map shows that after crossing this river, it is all plains to the north, and it is less than thirty miles away from Dengzhou City. You can try to warn the Ming army stationed nearby and ask for help.

Gao Qiaonan led his army to pursue here only a moment later, but the Ming army had already crossed the river and headed towards Dengzhou City. If the pursuit continued, the risk would be much greater than fighting in the mountains.

Although Gao Qiaonan was unwilling to give in, he also knew that he could no longer pursue the pursuit rashly at this time and could only withdraw his troops angrily.

Of course, this half-day and one-night battle was not fruitless. In addition to killing and wounding over a hundred Ming troops, about seventy or eighty prisoners of war were captured alive during the pursuit. Most of them collapsed from exhaustion during the escape. There were also a few prisoners who were

Realizing that there was no hope of escape, he came out of the forest and surrendered on his own to save his life.

Most of the flags, weapons, and supplies of this Ming army had been discarded during the escape. When Gao Qiaonan returned from the original route, he asked his soldiers to collect all the useful items. In particular, those representing the troops and commanders of the Ming army

The various flags of generals are used as evidence to request credit from the headquarters. As long as they are seen on the way, they will be collected without hesitation.

Gao Qiaonan was afraid that his superiors at the mining area would be impatient, so he ordered his men to ride on the two horses captured on the way and rush back to the mining area to report the news. This battle in the mountains and forests was due to the strength of Gao Qiaonan's men.

The Ming army was limited and could not trap the Ming army in the mountains. Although they made some gains, they were eventually escaped by their opponents.

In order to launch a night attack last night, Takahashi Minami and his men almost didn't rest all night. In order to save energy on the return trip, they stopped rushing so much. They walked for a full day and stopped to rest five or six times.

, did not return to the mining area until evening, and reported back to Morgan and Chen Yixin.

For this not-so-satisfactory result, Morgan and Chen Yixin did not blame Takahashi Nan for his poor command. In fact, if we want to get to the bottom of it, it was a slight mistake in the pre-war deployment. If the army troops deployed near Guxian Town were deployed,

Under the command of Gao Qiaonan, only the cavalry battalion is left to harass the Ming army when it comes. Maybe the Ming army will not be able to escape into the mountains. Or it may be possible to make some noise in the mountains and forests on the flanks of the battlefield in advance.

The suspicious formation made the Ming army dare not evacuate from this direction. Instead, they chose to return directly to the original route. They could concentrate their forces in Guxian Town to block the Ming army, and then engage in a pincer attack with the troops in the mining area. It would inevitably be like the battle camp.

The effect of pursuing overnight is better.

However, things have reached this point, and the next thing to consider may be to guess how the opponent will react, and how to deal with it.
Chapter completed!