On the night of the second day of June, Liu Chengzong did something big.
He called Song Shouzhen from Black Dragon Mountain, Li Wanqing, Guo Zashi, who was as tall as a tiger, and six other commanders who had never been soldiers.
Ten people ran to the barren hills on the south bank of the Yanhe River and dug a foxhole overlooking the Yanhe River.
The pit was neither big nor small, just enough for ten of them to fit into it, and it was covered with dead branches and grass outside.
In the second half of the night, a group of people huddled up in the pit to catch up on their sleep.
Until the early morning of the third day of June, when it was just dawn, the sound of trumpets from the west woke everyone up.
Liu Chengzong looked at the sky hazily, and after waking everyone up, he said: "Don't say anything for now. I will tell you what I see later."
The sky was getting brighter and before the sun came out, drums were already booming in the distance.
He didn't bring people here just to watch the sunrise.
Rather, he wanted his subordinates, who had never experienced war or military experience, to gain insights and watch the imperial court dispatch troops.
It also helps them know what level their opponents will be if they take this path.
Do a good job in psychological construction, so that you will not advance so fast that you will see the enemy looking down upon you, and you will not retreat so much that you will be beaten until you cry for your father and mother.
The sky was getting brighter, and horse hooves could be heard from the river bank at the foot of the mountain. There were vaguely scattered horse teams. Some people continued to move forward, while others stopped.
"The first pond cavalry to go out, there are five cavalry and one pond. The standard is twenty-four ponds per road, covering the army for twenty miles."
Liu Chengzong served as the commander of Tangqi and was very familiar with Tangqi's business: "They are all light cavalry and are difficult to catch. Each of them is equipped with five-color flag spears, waist knives, bows and arrows. They are one mile apart and advance in succession."
His voice was very soft, and the people in the pit were breathing heavily.
Just at the foot of the mountain not far away, the Tangbao cavalry were stationed by the river. They could even hear the snorting of the horses.
Soon the sky was getting brighter, and half a red sun shed a red line in the sea of clouds undulating over the mountains, separating the sky and the earth.
The Tangbao cavalrymen at the foot of the mountain straightened their backs on horseback, holding flags and spears in their hands and looking into the distance.
Tangbao cavalry is a dangerous profession, and they are on the front line of war.
They are the first to see the enemy, and the enemy is the first to see them.
But the benefits are also considerable. As long as you discover the enemy's situation and communicate it effectively, you can get a first-level skill after the war.
No one would have thought that on the mountain five or six miles away from Yan'an Prefecture, someone would dig a pit overnight and send troops to keep a close eye on them.
Liu Chengzong didn't know the government's specific arrangements for this battle, but he knew the time and purpose of sending troops.
The government is to wipe out the thieves in the Yanqing area, and their battlefield will be from Qingyang Prefecture to Yan'an Prefecture.
There are fewer thieves in the west and more thieves in the east.
But Liu Chengzong was not sure whether the officers and soldiers would take this path.
It wasn't until he saw Tangqi riding towards the west carrying flags and spears that the stone in his heart fell to the ground.
He preached to his subordinates: "Tangqi covered us for twenty miles, preventing the enemy from knowing the deployment of troops, but we can still see the movement of the army from Tangqi's advance.
Wherever the officers and soldiers go, Tangqi will advance in succession. From behind, Tangqi comes to him, and he goes to the front, where the officers and soldiers are advancing eastward. "
Liu Chengzong lowered his eyes and looked at the crystal hourglass in his arms. Less than a moment had passed since the trumpet was blown at the Yan'an Guard Camp.
The crystal hourglass is a trophy of Wangzhuang Castle. It originally had a self-sounding mechanism. When the quicksand falls to a certain level, the little man will sound the drum.
But now the little man and the drum were dismantled by Liu Chengzong and kept with him as timekeeping tools.
He really wanted to get a watch, but the watches of this era hardly met his needs.
Since missionaries and overseas trade became increasingly prosperous in the mid-Ming Dynasty, Western clocks first entered China as gifts.
Up to now, China has been able to make Western clocks very well, and the cost is cheaper than Europeans. For the same price, Ming Dynasty craftsmen could make the smallest clocks.
But it's still big, and the so-called small is just enough to fit on a table.
The most advanced mechanisms used iron springs, were not portable and had no sound.
So relatively speaking, this hourglass, which is not too big, is more in line with Liu Chengzong's needs.
"The first ones to leave the camp were the cavalry, and then the infantry. I estimate that they will leave the camp together and will arrive in a moment..."
When Liu Chengzong finished speaking, he put his hands on the edge of the pit and looked westward, frowning tightly.
One after another, Tangqi ran towards the east.
Then everyone heard the sound in their ears, the rhythmic tapping of shoes on the ground, and the sound of people running by in armor.
"The horse army is coming."
The first thing that caught his eye was the formation of a square formation of more than thirty servant guards wearing Mingzha armor. They held up various flags and walked proudly into the rising sun.
The Qingdao flag, the golden drum flag, the five-color flying tiger gate flag, the long banner with a leopard tail to seal the gate, the five-party marshal's sacred flag...the various satin flags almost covered the infantry square formation.
Only there is no official title.
Immediately behind, there was a symphony of rushing footsteps, clashing weapons, and the sound of hoofs.
There are two inconspicuous plain-colored long flags. The left side is written to punish the thieves, and the right side is written to the Shanhaiguan guerrilla general Li.
Under the banner, four elite cavalry defended an armored general.
Behind him, two hundred horsemen formed four columns, leading their horses to the side, following each step.
Each of the war horses is fat and strong, and they are all half-dressed with iron coverings and armor on their chests.
On the two outer routes, the horse soldiers wore crotch armor and armor and marched forward with weapons on their waists and hips.
On the two inner sides, everyone is lightly armed, with weapons and armor hanging on the backs of horses.
Behind the cavalry were twenty unarmored light soldiers, each leading four or five war horses and carrying pots of rice and grain on their backs, and five three-wheeled artillery carts.
The whole team ran forward silently, and soon passed the sight of Liu Chengzong and others, heading towards the east.
broken.
Liu Chengzong said: "This is a well-fed army."
Only then did he suddenly remember the process of how the Ganquan Tiger would be wiped out.
That battle lasted only two days. The guerrilla general Li Bei attacked three formations in a row and pursued for 160 miles.
First of all, Li Bei was not a guerrilla general. He was a retired military general who was eager to regain his official position by robbing thieves.
Secondly, if we include the march to Ganquan, Li Bei probably walked 260 miles in two days to behead the tiger general.
The marching speed was terrifying, enough to eclipse the three hundred miles in three days that Zhang Tianlin was proud of.
The commanders who had never participated in the war could not see anything. They only felt that this unit had manners and discipline.
Guo Zashi saw his ugly face and asked in a low voice: "My boss?"
Only then did Liu Chengzong come back to his senses, suppressed his worries about Zhang Tianlin, and said to everyone: "The four columns led their horses on foot, wearing armor on both sides of the mountains and rivers, which can prevent attacks on the road, and there is no time to wear armor.
They have more than 200 soldiers and more than 200 horses. Although the horses are very fat, their fighting method is roughly cavalry on foot, and they mount their horses to attack when encountering the enemy.
This march did not follow the normal rules of waiting for the infantry. Li Bei should have planned to use cavalry to attack. This tactic will kill whoever uses it when the enemy and we are of equal strength. "
After Liu Chengzong finished speaking, he paused for a while.
Just when several chiefs showed sarcastic smiles, he interrupted: "But the rebel army and the official army are not the same in strength. Li Bei's tactics will work, like us? Haha."
"Ten thousand people are not enough for him to kill 200 people."
