Outside the city of Kaifeng, the increasingly strong autumn wind continued to blow the earth, and the dead grass on the ground swayed violently, as if trying to break free and rise up with the strong wind.
Suddenly, a large group of cavalry rushed through the wilderness. The withered grass that was swaying just a moment ago was trampled into powder by countless iron hooves in an instant.
Li Zicheng personally led each battalion of the bandits to the battle. Not only did the middle camp, front camp, rear camp, left camp and firearms camp all reorganize and go out to fight, but even the right battalion led by Yuan Zongdi also came back, and the bandit strength increased by more than ten dozen. Thousands of people, the momentum is as strong as before.
This time, Li Zicheng deployed all the battalions in place. He and Liu Zongmin led the middle battalion as the central army. The other battalions were deployed at the front, rear, left and right of the middle camp according to their battalion numbers. The firearms battalion was deployed at the front of each battalion, from all places. A large number of artillery transferred from the city, as well as captured and captured gunners, were also integrated into the firearms camp.
Li Zicheng was still sitting on his yellow gelding, his left eye was covered with medicine, his face was solemn and excited, looking forward to seeing the tragic scene of Liu Yan's troops being bombarded by hundreds of artillery pieces to relieve his hatred.
The middle camp serves as the center of the entire army. At this time, the blue flag has been raised, announcing its location to each battalion.
After the battle, of the 40,000 knights in the central camp, only more than 28,000 were left. Although the 200,000 infantry had been collected, only 150,000 to 60,000 were left at this time. However, as the elite of the entire army, after a few days of rest, the momentum of the bandit camp has recovered a lot. The army formation marched in the wilderness. Li Zicheng looked at it for a while, and finally a smile appeared on his face. meaning.
At this time, the banners of each battalion were raised one after another, and while the soldiers and horses of each battalion of the bandits were advancing forward,
They are also making their own deployment adjustments.
In front is the black flag of the former camp of the bandits. After a fierce battle in the past few days, Li Laiheng's troops suffered heavy casualties. After a simple reorganization, he left the remaining eight thousand knights in the camp with him. Gu Kecheng and Xie Junyou, generals of Guoyi, and Tian Hu, generals of right Guoyi, respectively led the remaining 30,000 armored soldiers, 30,000 infantry and dead soldiers in front to support the firearms battalion in front at any time.
On the left is the white banner of the Zuoying of the Rogue Bandits. Liu Fangliang placed 15,000 brave cavalry and 30,000 armored soldiers behind, and the remaining 95,000 dead soldiers and infantry were all pressed up, preparing to use these miscellaneous soldiers to consume Liu Yan's troops. troops.
A red flag was raised on the right, which was the right battalion of bandits led by Yuan Zongdi. The 150,000 troops under his command had never fought against Liu Yan's tribe. Regarding the huge casualties suffered by Li Zicheng and the battalions, Yuan Zongdi and his troops General Bai Minghe of Zuo Guoyi and General Liu Tichun of You Guoyi were very shocked. They were also very cautious in this battle. They put the 20,000 knights and 30,000 armored soldiers in the camp behind. There were also 100,000 dead soldiers in front. with infantry.
As Li Zicheng's nephew and de facto adopted son, Li Guo led the rear battalion to follow the rear of the army. Under Li Zicheng's order, he maintained a distance of about three miles from each battalion.
The yellow flag of the rear camp was fluttering in the wind, just like Li Guo's mood at this time, passionate and dignified, constantly pulled by the tense atmosphere before the battle: "I hope this battle will go smoothly!"
Li Guo, like other battalions, did not know whether it was out of convention or out of considerations of preserving strength. He also sent 25,000 knights and 30,000 armor.
The soldiers were placed at the back, and in front were 75,000 dead soldiers and infantry.
At the front of the army, the three supervisors Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang, and Ai Nengqi advanced. The bandits transported 458 artillery pieces from various places. At this time, they had all been pushed to the front of the battle.
All artillery was divided into three rows. Following the practice of Liu Yan's new army, Li Dingguo prepared three rows to bombard in turn to ensure continuous firepower of the artillery.
Under the bright red flag of the firearms battalion, more than a thousand gunners marched forward with the artillery. Next to each artillery, there were several soldiers from the firearms battalion following to prevent the gunners from escaping or causing damage.
Originally there were not so many gunners in the firearms camp. For today's war, Li Dingguo specially arrested many craftsmen or craftsmen from various cities to temporarily learn how to fire cannons from the gunners in the camp. Almost two-thirds of the more than 1,000 gunners are such "quick gunners."
Li Dingguo's firearms battalion also suffered heavy casualties in the battle a few days ago. After gathering the defeated troops and temporarily replenishing the dead soldiers, the firearms battalion now still has 4,000 knights, 3,000 gunmen, and 17,000 spearmen. People, and then there are the gunners.
The soldiers and horses of each camp of the bandits are boundless, and a certain distance must be maintained between each battalion and each formation. Even though the army of bandits came from the west of Kaifeng City, the army array of the bandits spread from north to south. Nearly ten miles!
Facing such a vast army of soldiers and horses, Liu Yan felt heavy in his heart. As soon as he noticed the bandits were dispatched, he ordered all the new army battalions in Qinglai Town to move out of the city and form an array with their backs to the moat in the west of Kaifeng City. At the same time, all the earth-moving vehicles prepared in advance will be deployed in each battalion
Ahead, prepare to fight to the death with the army of bandits.
As for the defense of Kaifeng City, Liu Yan left it to Chen Yongfu, and at the same time ordered Chen Yongfu to move all the red cannons and Franco machine guns in Kaifeng City to the west wall to provide fire support for the new army soldiers.
Chen Yongfu and Gao Mingheng, who came after hearing the news, tried to dissuade them. They believed that the bandits were coming so fiercely that it was better for the New Army soldiers to hold on and use Kaifeng City's fortifications to consume the bandits' strength.
Liu Yan also considered this, but once the new army soldiers huddled in the city, they would give up the initiative on the battlefield.
Li Zicheng can then calmly siege the city and completely cut off Kaifeng City's contact with the outside world. The supply of money and food provided by the Ministry of War will also be cut off. When Liu Yan takes the lead in attacking, he will first break through the bandit blockade outside the city. Then there will be another setback and he will be too passive.
Liu Yan didn't like to be passive, and preferred to take the initiative to attack, beating Li Zicheng until he collapsed on the ground, and until the army of thieves collapsed and fled!
Soon, the new army battalions were arrayed outside the city.
Liu Yan used the guard camp as the central army. The middle camp was deployed in front, the artillery camp was at the forefront of the army, the left camp and the right camp were located on the two wings of the army, while the rear camp led by Wang Yue served as a reserve. Liu Yan placed him behind the entire army and blocked the suspension bridge on the moat.
Xu Ming led a cavalry battalion of more than 8,000 soldiers who were also in the central army. The soldiers of the whole battalion were not riding on their war horses at this time. They were either sitting on the ground to recharge their batteries, or feeding their horses some fodder to prepare for the upcoming war. Making final preparations.
In this battle, not only the military formation of the bandits stretched for nearly ten miles, but also the military formation of more than 70,000 soldiers of the New Army in Qinglai Town.
It was signed four or five miles away.
The Battle of Kaifeng City was the first time Liu Yan commanded hundreds of thousands of people on both sides to fight. At this moment, he was deeply aware of the limitations of the times. In the absence of various communication methods such as radios and telephones in later generations, he wanted to be timely and accurate. The mobilization of tens of thousands of troops within a few miles of command is really a very difficult thing.
Even with the elite of the new army in Qinglai Town, each battalion and each unit has numerous messengers, and all kinds of flags, flags, and drums are also available, but various situations will inevitably occur during the battle.
At this time, Liu Yan specially built a wooden high platform in the Chinese army. The bottom was fixed and protected with a large number of sandbags and stones. The large number of sandbags made the high platform look like a mound of earth and a hill. The arc-shaped sandbags surround the entire high platform, which is enough to withstand ordinary artillery strikes.
Liu Yan stood on a high platform that was as tall as one person, and then held up a telescope to observe the military formation of the bandits.
When more than 450 artillery pieces of various types appeared in the telescope, Liu Yan's expression darkened.
Among the numerous artillery pieces in the bandit army, most of them were Fo Lang machine guns of various sizes. However, Liu Yan also discovered that there were about twenty red cannons, although they were all two or three thousand kilograms. The size is not comparable to the seven red cannons weighing more than 5,000 kilograms on the top of Kaifeng City, but for the soldiers of the New Army, it is enough to cause a lot of trouble.
"Order Qian Qian to pay more attention to the red cannons in the bandit army!"
"yes!"
"Order Chen Yongfu to prepare the seven red cannons for this town. After the war begins, aim at the bandit's artillery formation and fire hard!"
"yes!"
about small
Half an hour later, the nearly 700,000 troops led by Li Zicheng finally stopped and began to regroup three miles away from the new army's formation.
Hundreds of thousands of bandits came all the way. The original military formation was already so loose that the original formation was no longer visible. There were even many dead soldiers and infantry who were marching while the military formation was loose. Taking a very confusing opportunity, he immediately became a deserter.
Along the way, each battalion of bandits killed hundreds of deserters, and at least hundreds more managed to escape.
Liu Yan waited and watched for a long time, only to see that the army of bandits was still reorganizing its army, with no intention of attacking. He couldn't help but feel agitated, and said to Miao Shao beside him: "The bandits are too procrastinating. Look, even those brave knights and The soldiers are in disarray all the way."
Miao Shao said with a smile: "I think it's not bad, it's not that the bandits are too procrastinating, but that our new army is too strong and the army will not break up all the way. I think we are the only new army in Qinglai Town in the world."
Liu Yan also laughed, and the irritability in his heart subsided a lot.
At this time, in front of the New Army's formation, hundreds of earth-moving vehicles were divided into two rows, forming an arc-shaped fortification. The heavy troops of each battalion also fixed them with soil and stones to prevent the earth-moving vehicles from being overturned by artillery shells. .
At the same time, a large number of sandbags were also deployed between the battalions of the New Army, and a large number of anti-artillery fortifications were established in the military formation.
While Liu Yan was reorganizing the bandit army, he raised his telescope to inspect the situation of each battalion. He saw that the morale of the soldiers in each battalion was high and full of energy. The fatigue from the previous battles had long been wiped away. They were all waiting for the war to begin with murderous intent and were prepared for those who died in battle. Comrades
revenge.
Seeing that his army was ready, Liu Yan nodded: "This battle is the decisive battle. Today we will severely injure the bandits and avenge the heroic souls of our new army!"
"Woo~woo!"
At this moment, horns sounded one after another in the vast military formation of the bandits. The sound wave composed of countless horns blew came. Hundreds of thousands of bandits soldiers and horses stepped forward again, like boundless dark clouds, pressing towards the enemy. Tens of thousands of new army officers and soldiers.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
In the bandit army formation, hundreds of thousands of bandit soldiers roared angrily, and the morale of the army suddenly rose.
Upon seeing this, Liu Yan sneered, pulled out his saber and pointed it diagonally forward, roaring loudly: "Beat the drum!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
In each camp of the New Army, more than a dozen war drums rumbled, and then the war drums on the walls of Kaifeng City were also beaten.
The majestic war drums and passionate horn sounds were intertwined and collided with each other like stormy waves, making the already noisy battlefield instantly become noisy.
"Wan Sheng!"
Tens of thousands of new troops roared in unison, and countless spears and blunderbuss hit the ground heavily in conjunction with the beat of war drums, making a huge and rhythmic sound, giving people a huge sense of power.
Li Zicheng rode his horse and looked at the army that was like a turbulent wave. A kind of joyful look at the world filled his heart. It was as if at this moment, Kaifeng City and Liu Yan had turned into dust, and even the majestic city of Beijing was crawling under his feet. He had transformed. Become the ruler of the world!
But when tens of thousands of New Army soldiers roared, the sound was almost soul-shattering. Li Zicheng broke out in a cold sweat. The beautiful scene that seemed to be in front of him just now was directly shattered by the rainbow-like momentum of the New Army.
At this time, Li Zicheng was staring into the distance.
, although he couldn't see the new army formation in front of the sea of people, he still kept his eyes fixed on it: "What kind of army is this? Are Liu Yan and his soldiers people or ghosts? They are facing my army of hundreds of thousands. , hundreds of artillery pieces, don’t you know how to be afraid at all?”
