Thirty-five miles north of Lingshou County, on the south bank of Zihe River.
Since the beginning of spring this year, there has been basically no heavy rain in Beizhili. After several months of evaporation, the Zihe River has lost its former waves. The originally wide river surface has shrunk extremely. Not to mention the cavalry, even the infantry You can just wade across the river.
At this time, the front camp, rear camp, and middle camp of the New Army had waded to the north bank of Zihe River and continued to advance rapidly toward Xingtang County in the north. The guard battalion and the artillery battalion were crossing the river. The left battalion and the right battalion were on guard in the rear, and the cavalry battalion The sixth battalion of the garrison lined up behind, waiting to cross the river.
Liu Yan rode his horse through the flowing river and jumped onto the river bank. Looking back, he saw that the soldiers of the Guards Battalion were passing through at a reasonable speed. The soldiers on the left and middle had already reached the north bank, and the soldiers on the right were crossing the river.
It's just that the baggage and artillery of the artillery camp are very heavy, and the large quantities of gunpowder cannot be affected by moisture, so Qian Qian has ordered people to wrap all the gunpowder in several layers of oil paper in advance, and then put them into sealed wooden boxes. In between, a lot of straw was placed.
In this way, the speed of the artillery camp crossing the river inevitably slowed down. Liu Yan immediately mobilized heavy troops from the guard camp to help. The soldiers struggled to drag the artillery and mobilized a large number of horses to drag it. It took nearly It took an hour for the entire artillery battalion to reach the north bank of Zihe River.
"Mr. Ge!"
Liu Yan looked at Qian Qian, who was already wet, and asked, "Is there any loss of gunpowder?"
"More than a dozen boxes of gunpowder fell into the water. Six of them are no longer usable. The rest should be usable if they are exposed to the sun."
Liu Yan nodded, these losses were not big, so he said:
"The artillery battalion sets off to the north immediately. Now our progress has fallen behind. We must speed up the advance to gain back the time!"
"yes!"
Qian Qian then shouted loudly and led the soldiers of the artillery battalion to take the lead. The officers of the front and rear battalions of the New Army followed the artillery battalion first, and the officers of the middle battalion of the New Army followed.
"Immediately order the New Army Cavalry Battalion and the Sixth Battalion of the garrison to cross the river. The New Army Left and Right Battalions will then cross the river!"
Liu Yan started to run on his horse and roared: "The whole army is heading north quickly and will not stop before sunset! Each battalion's heavy troops rushed to the front to set up supply points, one every five miles, and distributed dry food and water to the soldiers along the way. , all soldiers eat and drink while marching, without stopping!"
Soon, the army continued to advance northward at a rapid pace. At this time, more than half of the 120 miles had been covered, and less than 30 miles were left to reach Xingtang County.
Miao Shao rode up to follow Liu Yan and said loudly: "Mr. Ge, it's already dusk now. Why don't you take a rest on the north bank of Zihe River first? My subordinates are worried that if we continue to march in such a hurry, we will end up with more than a dozen people from the bandit's back camp. Wan Dajun has hit!"
Liu Yan said: "The whole army continues to advance. If we rest now, we will be discovered by the scouts of the bandits at any time, and all our previous efforts will be wasted. The whole army will continue to move north, reaching about ten miles south of Xingtang County at night, and then launch an attack under the cover of night!" "
Miao Shao was shocked. He didn't expect that Liu Yan, who had always been steady and steady, not only led his army to march 120 miles to attack the bandit army, but also directly launched a night attack. It was too dangerous!
"Mr. Ge, the soldiers are too tired. If we really fight, we will suffer heavy losses."
Liu Yan said categorically: "
We were tired. The bandits advanced rapidly from Heishan to Xingtang. They advanced more than 200 miles in a few days and fought two sieges. They were even more tired! Coupled with our army's sudden night attack, this battle will be won! "
Then Liu Yan ignored Miao Shao's advice and roared loudly: "Go at full speed and reach Xingtang at night!"
Going back in time, just when Liu Yan and his army had just crossed the Lituo River and had not arrived at Lingshou County, Yuan Zongdi had already climbed onto the wall of Zhending City in high spirits, and the city was finally captured by him. , all the official troops in the city were wiped out, and although the bandit right camp also paid a price of thousands of people, the casualties were all dead soldiers, and the main armored soldiers and Xiaoqi soldiers were not lost. This price is still very cost-effective.
"Immediately count the treasury in the city and count as many as there are."
"yes."
Later, Yuan Zongdi found the deputy mighty general Dang Shousu and planned to order him to lead 30,000 dead soldiers to guard Zhending Fucheng. Together with General Liu Tichun of You Guoyi, he led the main force of Youying to move closer to the west and attack Lu County. Intimidating Jingxing Pass.
At this moment, Yuan Zongdi and Dang Shousu suddenly saw Liu Tichun walking quickly, and then said: "General Zhi, the scouts from the west have sent news that a large amount of supplies were found near Huolu County, and there are also A huge amount of silver coins!”
"What!"
Nowadays, everyone in the world knows that only Shandong has a large number of silver coins in circulation. This is a form of currency created by Liu Yan. It is said to be very convenient to use. Many places such as North Zhili, South Zhili, and even Jiangnan have begun to circulated on a small scale.
At this time, when Yuan Zongdi heard that a large number of silver coins had been found, he immediately shouted out, and immediately ordered
The whole battalion attacked towards Huolu County.
Dang Shousu asked: "General Zhi, is it true that the city will no longer be guarded?"
Yuan Zongdi said angrily: "Most of those belongings were thrown away by Liu Yan's order. Why? I think Liu Yan probably led his army to withdraw from Jingxing Pass and gave up a large amount of belongings with the army in order to rush for time!"
"Liu Yan has run away, why are you still guarding Zhending Mansion? Let's go over immediately to check the situation, and then lead our army to catch up!"
Yuan Zongdi led his army in a hurry and arrived in the north of Huolu County in less than two hours. The mountains and plains here were full of various materials left behind, and there were even boxes of silver coins.
Upon seeing this, the soldiers and horses of the right camp of the bandits immediately started looting with a bang. Yuan Zongdi, Liu Tichun, and Dang Shouxu were dumbfounded.
Even though the military discipline of the bandit battalions has improved a lot now, various regulations can be implemented, and the Dashun Army has become less bandit-like, but in the face of massive supplies, at least hundreds of thousands of taels of silver coins, the right battalion The soldiers could not control many of them. They simply forgot about general discipline and only focused on fighting for the property on the ground.
Yuan Zongdi was furious and roared loudly, sending people to gather troops and horses, and ordered that no one should fight for property, and anyone who disobeyed the order would be beheaded.
Liu Tichun and Dang Shousu each led dozens of brave cavalry and began to disperse the crowd. The two led their men to kill the soldiers who did not obey the orders. It took a full hour to gather the soldiers and horses of the right camp. At this time, there were already More than two hundred people were killed by Yuan Zongdi, Liu Tichun, and Dang Shouxu.
"General Zhi, what should I do with these belongings?"
At this time, Yuan Zongdi's face was ashen. With these belongings, the army would move very slowly.
It was impossible to catch up with Liu Yan.
However, Yuan Zongdi was not so generous and was extremely confused about how to imitate Liu Yan in discarding these belongings.
After repeated questioning by Liu Tichun and Dang Shousu, Yuan Zongdi said: "First take people to load these belongings into the car, and at the same time send scouts to the north and south to search for traces of Liu Yan's tribe, and then make a decision!"
"yes."
After another half an hour, Yuan Zongdi received the news and found traces of the army marching to the north. Liu Yan's tribe had obviously gone north.
"north?"
Yuan Zongdi smiled and said: "In the Xingtang County area to the north, there are hundreds of thousands of troops from the rear camp, front camp and firearms camp. Your Majesty also led the old camp and the left and right battalions of the new army to move closer to Xingtang County. Liu Yan led the army. Heading north is a recipe for death!"
Liu Tichun said with some worry: "But after all, His Majesty has not arrived at Xingtang County yet. According to the strategy formulated by Hong Chengchou, most of the front camp, rear camp and firearms camp will be divided into troops, and one of them will be stationed in Xingtang County, waiting for the response. Your Majesty's troops will continue to attack Quyang County to the north. If Liu Yan is at this time..."
Yuan Zongdi and Dang Shouxu were stunned. Then Yuan Zongdi said in disbelief: "Impossible! How could Liu Yan have such a strategy? Can he predict the movements of our army?"
Liu Tichun pointed to the large amount of property that had been loaded into the truck and said: "Liu Yanneng suddenly withdrew here from Jingxing Pass, gave up a lot of property, and the whole army rushed north. What else could he do? I don't think Liu Yan can necessarily do it. It is not difficult to guess the overall strategy of our army, but it is not difficult to guess that our army has spread out and Xingtang County has troops to fall alone."
Yuan Zongdi immediately shouted
: "Immediately send someone to report the news to His Majesty, and the entire battalion will immediately pursue northward!"
Dang Shousu asked: "What about these belongings?"
Yuan Zongdi looked at the huge amount of property and almost broke his teeth. Then he squeezed out two words from between his teeth: "Give up!"
Then, under the strict orders of Yuan Zongdi, the soldiers and horses of the right battalion of the rogue thieves began to pursue northward. At the same time, a group of fast horses rushed towards Montenegro.
At the same time, Liu Fangliang, who was stationed in Pingshan County, also received an urgent report from the scouts: Liu Yan's troops in the direction of Jingxing Pass disappeared overnight!
Liu Fangliang suddenly had a bad premonition and hurriedly led the bandit Zuoying army to rush towards Jingxing Pass. When he was about to arrive at Guancheng, he met Liu Zongmin's troops from the middle camp who were marching in a hurry.
"Why is General Quan here?"
At this time, the armies of the Zhongying and Zuoying continued to march toward Jingxing Pass together. Liu Fangliang came with a group of knights on horseback. When they met, they started asking questions directly.
Liu Zongmin said with a solemn face: "Liu Yan's troops in the direction of Jingxing Pass have not been seen at night. The scouts from my middle camp have posted under the pass wall and fired arrows at the top of the city to test. Do you know that the Ming troops on the top of the city are all scarecrows?" !”
"What!"
Liu Fangliang was shocked: "Liu Yan led his troops and ran away!"
Liu Zongmin nodded and said: "It just so happens that you are here too, let's merge together and capture Jingxing Pass first, and then report the situation to His Majesty."
Liu Fangliang shouted: "What's the point of coming to an empty city? Report to Your Majesty immediately and the army will stop advancing immediately!"
Liu Zongmin frowned slightly, obviously very dissatisfied with Liu Fangliang's attitude, and said: "Then we have to get to Jingxing Pass. First, we need to send scouts to investigate Liu Yan's troops.
The traces of Liu Yan's troops can be used to determine the direction of Liu Yan's retreat. Otherwise, how can we report it to His Majesty? "
Liu Fangliang said loudly: "Where else can we go? Liu Yan must have led his troops to the north."
"impossible!"
Liu Zongmin said categorically: "You and I have two battalions of hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in the north. Liu Yan's army of more than 100,000 troops cannot pass through smoothly."
"Huolu County!"
Liu Fangliang said: "We and Youying soldiers and horses have a gap in Huolu County. Liu Yan must have gone north from Huolu County!"
Liu Zongmin also trembled in his heart and exclaimed: "Liu Yan is so cunning!"
Liu Fangliang was very dissatisfied with Liu Zongmin's step-by-step approach and said: "We have fought Liu Yan several times. Doesn't General Quan still know what kind of person he is? The top priority now is to pursue immediately. There is no need to go to Jingxing Pass anymore!" "
Liu Zongmin thought for a while and asked, "Then which direction should we go?"
Liu Fangliang said without thinking: "Lingshou County! Let's go to Lingshou County to intercept Liu Yan's tribe!"
Liu Zongmin nodded in agreement, and immediately sent a fast horse to report the news to Li Zicheng, and then said worriedly: "I don't know when Liu Yan's troops evacuated Jingxing Pass. I hope we can still make it in time."
Liu Fangliang said: "Don't worry, to the north of Lingshou County is Xingtang County. According to the strategy, the young general's rear camp will be stationed in Xingtang County to await His Majesty's army. Even if we fail to block Liu Yan, the rear camp troops will... …”
At this point, Liu Fangliang and Liu Zongmin were stunned, and then Liu Zongmin shouted: "Could Liu Yan be heading for Xingtang County? He is going to attack Xingtang County in between!"
At this moment, Liu Fangliang felt that her heart was about to burst out of her chest.
Li Guohou's troops and horses alone faced Liu Yan's surprise attack of more than 100,000 troops, and basically had no chance of winning.
"The whole army is heading north and marching urgently to Lingshou County!"
