Chapter 262 The guardsmen are not ordinary either.
Cao Shixiu, the new commander of the second division of the Dingwu Army, commanded Yishui's new army. Although the composition of the officers were all veterans of the Dingwu Army, it was the first time that the recruits saw blood on the battlefield, so they were severely punished. When the Youshiwei brothers' cavalry attacked the front of the formation, the entire division was defeated. If many trenches had not been dug in advance to block the cavalry attack, the entire army might have been annihilated.
Even so, there were less than 8,000 men of the Second Division who had escaped safely back to Gaoqiao.
And there are more and more pursuers behind him.
Cao Shixiu did not dare to retreat violently. Although the Dingwu Army had the reputation of saving troops and losing ground, the blind retreat made him, a commander who was an old Nanjing right guard, very ashamed, so after retreating to Wuxi City, he ordered the remaining soldiers to retreat. More than 8,000 people prepared to defend the city.
Zuo Liangyu followed You Shiwei and made a great contribution, and his self-confidence suddenly skyrocketed. After arriving at the gate of Wuxi City, he took the initiative to climb up with his soldiers to attack the city. As a result, he was ruthlessly attacked by flintlock guns. After leaving more than two thousand corpses The hasty queen retreated.
You Shiwei had been in Yulin for a long time and knew the importance of cavalry. However, due to the vast water network in the south of the Yangtze River, his cavalry could not play a big role. After the army arrived in Wuxi, he came up with an adventurous idea.
"What? Attack Suzhou?"
Zuo Liangyu thought he had heard wrong, but General You looked like he was joking with him: "Sir You, this place is still a hundred miles away from Suzhou City, and it will take three days for the march to arrive. Besides, Suzhou is Chen Cao's advance base camp must be heavily guarded there, how can it be accomplished?"
You Shiwei did not have the slightest fondness for Zuo Liangyu, but he was determined not to be careless in the face of such a big right and wrong, so he said: "General Zuo, before leaving, Wei Guogong has given me full authority to command your troops. Now the main force of Chen Ni's rebel army has been General Xu is dragging him to Wujin County. As soon as reinforcements arrive, Chen's rebel army will fall apart. Now that you have achieved so much, what do you have to worry about?"
You Shiwei's words touched Zuo Liangyu's sensitive nerves. Although the famous Dingwu Army in Zhongxi were all firearms troops, as long as the army fought hard to attack their formation without retreating, the group of men would be They hurriedly retreated, leaving thousands of corpses behind. Wuxi city was not big, and they also brought a large number of artillery with the army. It was only a matter of time before Wuxi was captured.
"I will obey Master You's instructions. I wonder what Master You will do next?"
Zuo Liangyu cooperated honestly and complied with You Shiwei's wishes, and said: "I have reason to believe that Chen Ni will definitely send troops to rescue Gaoqiao. I will mobilize 30,000 people to ambush Gaoqiao, and another 10,000 people to guard Wuxi." Watching the rebels in the city outside the city, you and General You Shen will join 40,000 troops and rush to Suzhou together. You will know when we get there."
Zuo Liangyu was greatly surprised that there was no need to resist in front, but he thought that retaking Suzhou would be a great achievement, so he felt as if he had been given a shot of blood: "General, we will set off now."
Looking at Zuo Liangyu leaving, You Shigong looked at his second brother with disgust: "Didn't the Duke tell his second brother before he left that if there was a chance to capture this person?"
You Shilu also nodded: "This guy is obviously striving for power and gain, but he actually stood still in Zhongxi. Just this one thing can kill him."
You Shiwei shook his head gently: "It is not a good strategy to kill this man in front of the battle. His people must be unwilling to do so. It is better to let him go to Suzhou, he is a big fat man;"
He looked at You Shilu and said, "Third brother, you have to monitor him carefully. If Suzhou is captured, you can act accordingly."
You Shilu nodded: "Second brother, don't worry..."
After the arrangements were made here, You Shiwei looked at Wuxi County in the distance, and then told You Shigong: "I saw that their marching formation was quite unfamiliar. According to the information given by the Duke, Chen Ni expanded the army before the rebellion. We have captured a lot of new troops. The first part of the new army is in front of you. You lead 5,000 people to guard the retreat, and the other 5,000 people hide in the Kaosaka area behind you. As long as they dare to come out, they must be wiped out."
To the southwest of Gaoqiao Town is the Huishan Woodland, which can hide troops and horses. After arriving there, You Shiwei first stocked up on the food stockpiled in Gaoqiao, and then ambushed 20,000 people in the Huishan Woodland. He asked Deputy Commander-in-Chief Chen Degong to lead an army. Wantun was stationed at Gaoqiao, waiting for Chen Cao's reinforcements.
.
Zuo Liangyu and You Shilu led 40,000 people straight to Suzhou City. Such a high-intensity march prompted Zuo Liangyu's men to work so hard because Zuo Liangyu issued an inspiring order.
"After the city of Suzhou is broken, the army can plunder for two days."
Although You Shilu was not very happy after receiving the news, he thought that in the prosperous land south of the Yangtze River, these guest troops coming from Yulin needed such good things.
So much so that he was prepared to let it go. If Zuo Liangyu's behavior in Suzhou City was too wanton, then he was prepared to take the truth seriously.
.
Song Che led the First Division troops towards Gaoqiao and arrived at the official pass in front of Gaoqiao in less than three hours.
"General Soldier..."
The scouting horse galloped forward: "A large number of guardsmen were found in Gaoqiao Town, numbering in the tens of thousands."
Because it was an emergency return, Song Che did not bring any artillery with him, even though he only had ten squatting tiger cannons with him for close combat.
"The entire army dismounts and prepares to fight..."
'Dong dong dong...'
There were several loud noises in a row, and dozens of soldiers in front who had just jumped off their horses and were preparing to assemble in platoons were instantly engulfed in fire. The violent explosions shattered the soldiers in the center to pieces.
Song Che was shocked at that time, and then he became frightened: "Everyone, be careful, this is Fuhuo Lei..."
Song Che's experience as a soldier in Liaodong enriched his understanding of the firearms of the Ming Guard troops. This old-fashioned land mine is called an ambush mine, which needs to be triggered by igniting a wire. Obviously, there is an ambush around.
He was caught in an ambush because he was careless. He never expected that his opponent would be so well-defended. However, according to the arrangement of the border troops, Song Che had reason to believe that there would not be too many ambush thunders.
"Grenade preparation."
There are new grenades and bombs, but the equipment is not too much. Song Che's plan is to use grenades to pave the way and clear all the ambush mines buried in the ground before it gets completely dark.
Dozens of grenades were thrown out, the explosions sounded simultaneously, and the dirt road ahead was blown up in all directions.
Song Che frowned and then ordered: "The 2nd regiment's battle formation advances."
"Raise the gun..."
Chen Degong is a veteran from Yulin. He has fought against ethnic minorities such as Huihui and Yilibaili all the year round. He has made many contributions to You Shiwei for so many years. He was recruited by the imperial court and came to Nanzhili from Yulin three months ago. I heard that I was also excited for a few days to compete against Chen Cao, the most popular Duke of Liang in the country.
However, looking at the opponent's operations in front of him, it was obvious that he knew all the methods of their frontier troops by heart.
"grown ups..."
The military commander leaned over and said, "We still have a lot of firearms. When will we use them?"
Chen Degong watched thousands of people walking slowly towards the front of the town through the remaining light of dusk, all holding firearms in their hands: "When they come within fifty steps, bring the Flying Thunder God given to us by Wei Guogong."
The so-called Flying Thunder God is just a crude version of a rocket. Because of the large number of missiles fired in groups, they gain the upper hand in terms of momentum, and then explode in groups. The actual damage is limited, and the main purpose is to demoralize the opponent.
Chen Degong did not place bets on exotic firearms such as the Flying Thunder God. Their frontier troops rarely used such firearms. Mainly because the Mu Mansion in the south often used them to scare the elephant soldiers of the Champa Kingdom and Jiaozhi Kingdom. Therefore, this kind of firearm Most of them are stored in the armaments station in Nanjing.
The leader of the 2nd Regiment, Yan Chun, is a veteran of the Dingwu Army. He has accumulated a lot of experience in several battles over the years. The opponent actually ambushed a fire thunder before, which means that the opponent must have another trick, so he Cautiously said: "Listen carefully, the opponent may have firearms, and he will soon be within the range of the matchlock gun and the three-eyed gun, so be careful."
As soon as he finished speaking, several strings of fire flew in unison, and then more, with the sound of a trumpet like a resounding arrow, and then exploded in front of Yan Chun's formation.
The lethality of the Flying Thunder God is indeed average. Hundreds of Flying Thunder Gods attacked, only injuring dozens of people. Even Song Che was confused. How many people were in this high bridge?
Song Che looked at Feng Zhongping, the commander of the 1st Division next to him, and then said: "Commander Feng, take the first brigade to the north of Gaoqiao to see if you can break through from the north. If not, act with camera and don't be careless. "
Feng Zhongping was promoted from the second brigade commander. After receiving Song Che's order, he nodded and rode towards the north of Gaoqiao with the soldiers of the 1st brigade behind him.
Most of the artillery regiment affiliated with the 1st Division remained under the command of Chen Cao before Wu entered the city. The artillery regiment under his command now only had a dozen tiger squatting guns and could only fight a dozen close combat.
As soon as the order was issued, fierce gunfire erupted from the Yanchun position ahead, and even the thundering sound of the three-eyed gun sounded in the sky inside the high bridge.
A fierce conflict broke out between the two sides within a distance of fifty steps.
You Shiwei stared at the battlefield in the distance. The sky was about to darken. Once dark, the war horse would lose its role. In front of Gaoqiao Town was a rare plain and open space. Although it was covered with rice fields, riding a horse was no problem at all. of.
"Give me the order. Once they rush into the town, the entire army will attack."
Chen Degong did not set up defenses in the north at all, because he was mainly a decoy. The real highlight was the commander-in-chief You Shiwei. The frontal confrontation in Zhenxi was mainly to confuse his opponents and make them fall for the trick.
Obviously, Song Che didn't think about this either.
"General Song..."
The order arrived: "General, Commander Feng led his troops to rush into Gaoqiao."
Song Che was very excited after hearing this, but he was also prepared to be cautious. When he passed by Gaoqiao, he knew that Gaoqiao was not a big town. If a swarm of swarms rushed in to fight in the streets, the combat effectiveness of the Dingwu Army would be greatly reduced, so he said: "The 3rd Brigade is united. We will attack in formation, and the rest of the troops will be on standby."
When You Shiwei saw the Dingwu Army starting to take action outside the town, he took a deep breath, turned around, jumped on his horse, and drew out the Yanling Saber: "The whole army...
Attack..."
