Li Shu's decision injected a new round of vitality into this hastily launched battle. On the one hand, it was to fill in the gaps at the tactical level, which greatly enhanced the success rate of this battle plan. On the other hand, with this A big leader stepped forward and announced that he would use his body to lure the enemy, and no one doubted the inevitability of this battle.
In addition, Li Shu's behavior will also bring a huge hidden benefit, which is the unification of command authority - no matter what, he is the leader of the Eastern Front and the person in charge of the Eastern Expedition, even if Losing Yuncheng did not stop him from rescuing the Eastern Front troops three times in a row.
Merits are merits and faults are faults. He is still very prestigious among the troops on the Eastern Front.
And don't forget, as Zhang Xing has clearly shown a stronger, more powerful, and more convincing side, it is impossible for every leader to be willing to obey the leader of the Western Front so simply and neatly. This is not to say that everyone has a personal grudge against Zhang Xing, or that they prefer Li Shu, but that these leaders are all from powerful backgrounds. Today Zhang Xing is obviously going up, and they are worried and afraid of being killed. Annexation, Li Shu will go up tomorrow, they will also be worried and afraid of being annexed.
This is the difficulty of doing things.
However, as Li Shu took the initiative to lure the enemy, there was no longer any possibility of disagreement over the command of this battle.
It can be said that starting from this evening, starting from this tent, the noise in the middle and upper classes was completely eliminated. At least it was wiped clean from the surface. Everyone can skip a lot of things and face the war directly. itself.
Sure enough, after the meeting, regardless of the darkness, Cheng Zhili went alone with a joint letter from Wei Xuanding, Li Shu, and Zhang Xing. Li Shu also went to find his headquarters and trusted leaders, trying to piece together a decent-looking army. "Fake defeat" of the troops, Zhang Xing also sent a messenger to Mangdang Mountain, asking Wang Zhen to immediately go north from the area controlled by the Dragon Gang in the northeast of Dang County after receiving the military order.
All other leaders and helmsmen were required to disperse among the troops, the former to appease the morale of the troops, and the latter to coordinate logistics in a targeted manner. At the same time, Yan Qing and others also received the mission to imitate the guardians, white knights, and caped knights on the Western Front, recruit elite backbones from the troops retreating from the Eastern Front, and uniformly station and manage them.
That night, the rain gradually became sparse, and everyone had their own thoughts. From the big leaders to the soldiers below, I don't know how many people tossed and turned and couldn't sleep all night.
Among them, Zhang Xing, who had wiped his body with Zhenqi, rarely slept comfortably beside Bai Yousi - this was certainly not half-life in front of the soldiers' formation, and there was still singing and dancing in the beauties' tent, because everyone knew that Bai Yousi The eldest lady is the real representative of violence. When the war is approaching, many people are eager to see this scene to reassure themselves.
Early the next morning, the rain stopped for half a night. After Xiong Bonan volunteered the troops he led, Li Shu quickly gathered four thousand troops and took them to Zhen on the grounds that Lihu was too crowded. As he left the city, Xiong Bonan himself also left with him - the latter was part of the fraud, and without him to deal with Zhang Changgong to protect Li Shu, it would undoubtedly be a huge flaw.
At the same time, the continuous struggle between the top master of the Deposed Dragon Gang and Zhang Changgong is also one of the important means to hinder the reconnaissance of the government and army.
Frankly speaking, Zhang Xing still feels a little distressed, because a false defeat will almost certainly turn into a real defeat, and this army will inevitably suffer unnecessary casualties. But he also understands in his heart that this is the so-called kindness that cannot lead an army. There are always people in war. To undertake some specific tasks.
In fact, after getting up on this day, Zhang Xing has been busy since the morning, and he really doesn't have much time to express anything. Reorganizing the troops and supporting logistics are both very important.
Soon, he and Bai Yousi accepted the invitation of Xu Shiying and Shan Tonghai, and took seven or eight leaders to the direction of the designated battlefield for reconnaissance before the battle.
It couldn't be said whether it was cloudy or cloudy. Everyone reined up their horses next to a small river ditch. Because of the continuous rain, the small river ditch was already full, and the water flow was turbid and fast.
After looking at the water in the small ditch, Zhang Xing made a mental calculation and spoke first: "Are there seven such ditches along the way?"
"That's right." Xu Dalang was thoughtful and was the first to respond. "Besides that, there's siltation in a lot of places."
"Now we need to ask Lihu to send civilian workers over to dredge the ditches along the way, and then set up temporary wooden rafts on these small ditches to serve as passages to make the preset positions and Lihu unobstructed." Zhang Xing immediately ordered. "It would be best to set up a logistics supply camp behind the predetermined position."
"It may not be too late." Xu Shiying said one thing.
"I know, if you can do something, clear the ditches and erect wooden rafts first." Zhang Xing replied immediately without even thinking about it. "If you have enough energy, you can build a military stronghold again."
Everyone nodded immediately, and Xu Shiying even called Guo Jingke, who was accompanying him, and asked the latter to go back to find Wei Xuanding. Now, starting from Lihu, he sent civilians to clear the way for the advance.
After Guo Jingke left, Zhang Xing immediately raised his head and looked at a conspicuous hill in the northeast.
"The leader on the right, that's Lishan." Liang Jiading, one of the local leaders, stepped out from the crowd, pointed his finger, and said nonsense... After all, a group of people, both successful and condensing elixirs, would be a miracle at best. Experts have learned that there are horses, and the reason for stopping here is not because of a swollen creek.
Looking back, to be honest, the mountain is neither high nor big.
The geographical environment of the entire administrative eastern border area is obviously bounded by Juye Ze. The several counties downstream of Jishui in the east are the hilly areas of Your Highness. There are both big mountains like Mount Tai and countless other small mountains; and Juye The counties in the upper reaches of Jishui River in Jersey are more like plains belonging to the Central Plains region... As for Lishan Mountain, it is also like an extension of the eastern hilly area across Juye Ze, but because it is surrounded by plains, it stands out. out.
At this time, the clouds above the head dispersed slightly, and the vision was clear. Coupled with the previous days of rainfall, the mountain tops were green. From a distance, it looked like a big washed green rice dumpling standing on the plain land that was also mainly green.
"The mountain is not too high, nor is it very big." Zhang Xing frowned.
"Indeed." Xu Shiying was equally serious. "But this is the only decent mountain around... Moreover, there is a protruding corner on the west side of Mount Li, which can be slightly more effective in blocking the view."
"It's better to dig trenches and pile up earth mounds for cover." Zhang Xing said seriously. "This also makes it easier to maintain battle lines and formations."
There is no way, it is basically impossible to expect him to use his troops like a god. In this case, it has become inevitable to build strongholds, fight stupidly, and superstitiously about fortifications and logistics.
"Can anyone hide in the mountains?" Bai Yousi suddenly asked on the horse.
Everyone around was stunned, and no one answered for a while. It was obvious that it was not that the question could not be answered, but that all the leaders were not mentally prepared to communicate with this famous lady of the Bai family.
They don't even know what to call each other?
"Just call me Bai Sanniang." Bai Yousi seemed to have noticed the problem and just smiled.
Xu Shiying immediately responded and raised his hands in response: "Reporting to Bai Sanniang, it's not easy to hide people on the mountain..."
"How to say?"
"The mountain is relatively steep, with many trees, dense vines, and rugged soil. In addition, it has been raining for days... I estimate it will continue to rain in the next few days... The mountain soil is soft and the road is slippery." Xu Shiying responded sincerely. . "It's not easy to go up, it's even harder to come down."
Bai Yousi nodded.
Zhang Xing, on the other hand, instinctively felt that something was wrong: "This mountain is not big and it is in a densely populated area. Why is the vegetation on the mountain so dense? Logically speaking, there should be some buildings and sayings."
"Don't hide it from Zhang Longtou." Shan Tonghai finally spoke with narrowed eyes. "If I remember correctly, there should indeed be a temple on this mountain to worship the real dragon, but it has long been abandoned... Moreover, the reason why the people around you don't go up the mountain has something to do with this temple... It is said that there is something sneaky in the temple. "
"I heard someone said that the real dragon made a decree that no one was allowed to go up the mountain to disturb him." Liang Jiading couldn't help but speak again.
"What I heard is that there was a murder case in the temple on the mountain. Several Taoist priests who worshiped the real dragon fought each other for money. Not many people escaped in the entire temple, and it became a murderous place from then on." Xiahou Ningyuan also added. "Some people say that these Taoist priests are just killing people and stealing goods, which is an internal strife."
Zhang Xing immediately went to see Bai Yousi.
Bai Yousi took a deep breath, looked at the hill and said: "It does feel like there is a lot of energy. It is estimated that a real dragon has visited, but to put it bluntly, from here to the east, Lei Ze, Julu Ze, then to Mount Tai, and Luolongtan, there is no shortage of such places in the east."
Everyone was thoughtful, but no matter what they thought, they all just nodded.
Only Zhang Xing was still curious: "Which true dragon is he offering sacrifice to?"
"Bent Tiger." Xu Shiying blurted out.
Zhang Xing was startled for a moment, but the people around him were very open-minded. Obviously, although the Trinity Orthodox Church used the belief of three radiances and four emperors to forcibly cover up most of the sacrifices of real dragons and gods, the tiger can be divided into two parts. The local imperial dragon that controls the land should at least not be too deserted.
Only Bai Yousi caught a glimpse of Zhang Xing's face and understood in his heart, but he jumped up from his horse, soared upwards, and went straight to the top of the mountain.
Seeing this scene, the eyelids of many leaders below Xu Shiying and Shan Tonghai jumped.
After a while, Bai Yousi turned back to this place, landed easily on his horse, and made another statement to Zhang Xing: "As mentioned before, the mountain has dense vegetation and is an inaccessible wild mountain, but you can still see the old road and Poguan. …It’s all covered with weeds, the main church has collapsed, and there’s no one left.”
Zhang Xing nodded repeatedly, then calmed down and looked at the battlefield again, still frowning.
Seeing this, Xu Shiying said seriously: "Third brother, I probably know what you are worried about, but if you ask me, it can only be this way, because the time is too short, and it is very likely that there will be a battle in three to five days. On the other hand, It is because of the rush of time that the enemy troops may directly collide with each other, and we dare to fight this battle. At this time, having a strategy is better than having no strategy at all."
Zhang Xing nodded again.
By the way, how come Zhang Dalongtou doesn’t know what the other party means?
The biggest feature of this battle is not to wait for work, nor to lure the enemy deeper. Those are only microscopic. From the perspective of the entire campaign, it is simply a head-on collision, catching the army by surprise.
Time is tight, tasks are heavy, everything can only be done, everything may not be done well, and there are flaws everywhere. This is a fact.
But at the same time, they are counting on this tight time limit, leaving the officers and soldiers with no time to react, no preparation for large-scale operations, and no determination and ability to rescue.
This wave, this wave is called doing nothing well, to win by doing nothing.
In fact, this idea was Zhang Xing's own idea.
"Let's go for a walk!" Zhang Xing sighed, finally no longer caring about this. "Look at the position and that swamp."
There was nothing to say, so everyone came to the foot of the mountain and continued to investigate. I first looked at the flat land at the foot of the mountain. There was nothing to say. Then I just turned west. Sure enough, I found a large area of low-lying water-filled land only five or six miles away from Mount Li. This was too obvious. Even though the waist-deep crop fields completely obscure the flooded pond and sleep, it is still noticeable because many farmers are trying to drain water here.
This scene caused everyone to be silent for a moment.
"Kick them off."
Zhang Xing suddenly turned around and gave instructions. "Which of you will go back and call an army over to control the place and prevent them from draining water. If possible, ask Chief Wei to move all the surrounding villages. The women and children will hide in the city and the strong men will be conscripted to do the logistics. We must not let them run to the northeast, lest they run into Zhang Xuguo's troops and be self-defeating."
"Let me do it!"
Shan Tonghai took a deep breath and rarely took the initiative to take on this task. "Xiahou, go back and bring in the troops, and do it immediately."
Everyone around him, from Bai Yousi to Xu Shiying to several other local leaders, were all silent... Of course they knew that Zhang Xing was right to do this. There was no doubt that it was right and they could not win this battle. , Don’t let people like Han Yingong indulge his subordinates. It’s just a large army raiding and the situation is turbulent. How can we expect to continue farming here peacefully?
Specific to these surrounding villages, forcibly moving them to the rear was not only for the victory of the battle itself, but also for the benefit of these villagers. If there was a real fight, no matter whether it was tens of thousands versus tens of thousands, no matter what the outcome was, just a scattered defeat would be a disaster for these villages.
Even putting this aside, the farmers' own behavior of draining water may not be useful, because the weather is still relatively gloomy, and the probability of rain in the next few days is still high, and it will rain continuously. In this case, today's drain , it will flood again in a few days.
Instead of doing this, it is better to let the Deposed Dragon Army take advantage of this terrain.
But you know, as a local powerful person, who doesn't work part-time as a manor owner or landlord? The mentality of farmers is very obvious up and down. So for them, it is undoubtedly counter-intuitive to prevent farmers from self-help in agricultural production, and even has a certain sense of moral instinct and guilt.
"Or not."
After walking absent-mindedly through the ridges of swamps and waterlogged farmland, Zhang Xing came to the foot of Lishan Mountain extending to the west and discovered a problem again. "On both sides of the east and west, the narrowest part is three or four miles. If you follow Xu Dalang's previous plan and send out an elite force after the battle, and use their familiarity with the terrain to bypass the flooded area and cut off the retreat of the army, how many people will be needed? ?”
"I originally planned to pay at least 10,000." Xu Shiying's face turned pale, but she still answered sincerely. "And they all have to be elite."
"But looking at it now, ten thousand people have come around. It's hard to say that they have adjusted their military strength and retreated directly." Shan Tonghai frowned.
Everyone fell into silence, but no one gave up. At this point, the situation is no better than the situation that ten thousand people have worked hard to get through. They just need a better, or as good as possible, method.
And just when the head of the head became gloomy again, Xu Shiying peeked at Miss Bai again, but she gritted her teeth and said:
"I have an idea. Once the war starts, why not send a master to lead the gang's cultivators and some elites, not too many. Hundreds of people will come over immediately, forcefully insert them here, and set up a formation in the middle of the road. Please note that if this happens, the officers and soldiers will Then the forward and backward transportation is not smooth. Then we will send the troops from the flanks in order of one thousand, three thousand, and six thousand... In this way, we can choke the officers and soldiers to death under Mount Li. .”
Everyone suddenly realized and went to see Bai Yousi together.
Even Zhang Xing also came to see his heroine.
But Miss Bai just smiled and said: "Since I'm here, of course I have to do my best to help you, otherwise wouldn't it be difficult for Saburo to be in your gang?"
Everyone was startled and then stopped laughing. Zhang Xing also laughed, and Li Shanxia managed to have a happy atmosphere.
So far, the survey of the battlefield has produced a barely passable result. Just as Xu Shiying hinted before, in this case, it is already remarkable to have a barely smooth result, and it is not easy to worry about it. He rushed back before it rained.
Back in Lihu, the leader Guan Xu had already begun to lead some civilians to clear the road. After Zhang Xing sent the geographical information to Li Shu, he also continued to invest in the reorganization of the troops.
And, soon in the afternoon, the basic military task assignment was completed.
The first is the most important 10,000 troops to bypass the rear.
It was Bai Yousi who led most of the cultivators and hundreds of elites who served as guards and supports to go over first. They lined up behind the Taoist army and wedged themselves into the rear or heart of the enemy like a nail. Then Jia Yue led them. A thousand people led the headquarters as follow-up; then Shan Tonghai personally led the remaining three thousand people of his family to follow; the last six thousand people came from the platter of various ministries, including Zhai Qian's two thousand people and Ding Shengying's two Thousands of people, and two thousand people led by Guo Jingke.
As for the military formation in front of them, Zhang Xing was naturally in charge, with Xu Shiying and Wang Shuyong as assistants on the left and right, uniting all military forces and making unified arrangements.
It can only be said that this is another barely justified result.
In the evening, Zhang Xing stayed in the army and had a big meal with the troops. At this time, the rain finally started again. Zhang Dalong listened to the raindrops hitting the tents around him. On the surface, there was no movement. He even talked and laughed with the surrounding soldiers, but he couldn't bear it in his heart. I couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
The reason couldn't be simpler, it's a simple math problem.
This link is just a matter of making do, and it seems to be smooth. That link is also a matter of making do, and it seems to be smooth. However, basic probability and mathematics will tell you that if there are multiple smooth links in a row, the probability will be 10%. Things will not go smoothly in eight or nine.
There are bound to be accidents and problems.
Of course, when soldiers come, they will cover up the water and the earth will cover up. When problems arise, you just have to work hard to solve them. It's just that as the commander of an army, the process of waiting for problems to break out is not so pleasant. Especially when he faced soldiers, middle- and lower-level officers and officials, he had to act like he was wise and prepared for everything.
"Dragon head."
After Zhang Xing had eaten two pancakes and a bowl of soup, and was about to get a refill, Zhang Jinshu suddenly appeared outside the shack, waving in the rain. "Something."
Zhang Xing immediately put down his bowls and chopsticks and followed the other party out.
The two of them did not take shelter from the rain, but just walked to a corner where there were few people. When they came here, Zhang Jinshu immediately said: "Longtou, at Chengshi's place, a family member suddenly ran away..."
"What do you mean?" Zhang Xing didn't turn around for a moment.
"A general who had deserted and failed to come was caught and executed. The day before yesterday, his family collected his body. Yesterday, he suddenly dismissed his servants. Today, the remaining family members also disappeared. It is said that his brother swore in front of the servants. He said that the Deposed Dragon Gang would pay for his life with his life, so the servant was careful. After discovering that his family members were missing today, he came to the county government to file a complaint and transferred it from the officer who stayed behind to me." Zhang Jinshu elaborated. "I'm worried that they went south to look for Han Yingong."
"Did you send someone to chase him?" Zhang Xing didn't have any trouble in his heart and just asked calmly.
"I'm gone. My most capable subordinate has already gone." Zhang Jinshu answered immediately.
"That's enough." Zhang Xing is also a bachelor. "The thing is like this, Lao Zhang, I don't expect to be able to hide it from Han Yingong at all. As long as I can hide it from the past few days, he won't have time to deal with it... You should deal with such a loophole as much as possible, but after tomorrow, it will be Leave him alone."
"Yes." Zhang Jinshu responded simply.
In this way, after leaving Zhang Jinshu, it was getting dark. Zhang Xing and Bai Yousi were still sleeping in the military camp outside the city. But this time, he was simply pushed awake by Bai Yousi in the middle of the night.
"What's wrong?" Zhang Xing opened his eyes in a daze, confused for a moment.
"There are a few people coming outside. They seem to want to see you, but they don't dare to disturb us." Bai Yousi pushed again. "They are all yours, go and deal with them."
Zhang Xing stood up in surprise and walked out with his clothes on. Sure enough, he saw Wei Xuanding, Jia Yue, Yan Qing, and Zhang Jinshu with a few soldiers, all standing under a small shack with torches opposite his tent, looking slightly embarrassed. Feeling uneasy, he immediately released his true energy, walked through the rain calmly, and came to the other party.
Seeing Zhang Dalong coming over, the four of them felt a little relieved.
"What's wrong?" Zhang Xing reluctantly made a magnanimous gesture.
"Chen Qing ran away." Taoist Wei came straight to the point. At night, under the light of torches, the other three people also looked a little ugly.
"Who is Shen Qing?" Zhang Xing tried hard to think about it, but maybe he was too busy and tired these days to remember.
"That protector lives in Chengwu in the south. He is worried about his family and the protector that Han Yingong will come over." Taoist Wei stamped his feet. "The one who participated in the military meeting yesterday evening."
"Looking back to see the news now, he will probably run away in the afternoon." Yan Qing also looked ugly. This person came through his channel. "I don't know if I'm looking for Zhang Xuguo or Han Yingong, or if I just want to take my family out."
Zhang Xing was stunned, suddenly realized, and then his expression changed slightly.
But after a moment, he still regained his previous smile: "It's going to rain, my mother is getting married, and Protector Shen wants to run away. Let's send someone with a higher level of cultivation to chase him with ten or eight soldiers. Just chase, forget it if you can't catch up, otherwise what else can you do? I guess I just want to take my family and run away. Do I really want to go to the official army or Han Yingong, because Chengwu is in the south, and I will definitely fall into the hands of the official army. Han Yingong's troops have passed by, and what he is most worried about is the brutality of Han Yingong's troops, so it is unlikely that he will go to Zhang Xuguo, and if he does not go to Zhang Xuguo, it will not be too fatal."
From Taoist Wei to below, a few people were quite speechless, but they couldn't refute.
"The same goes for you guys. Allocate your manpower and go to rest early. Just be responsible and responsible. Don't get angry about this. You must recharge your batteries in the past few days." Since Zhang Xing gave the order, he no longer paid attention to it. After just a few instructions, he directly summoned the ice energy and headed back to the tent in the rain.
Back in the tent, of course, there was no need to repeat it to Bai Yousi, because she must have heard clearly. However, this did not stop Zhang Dalongtou, who was so calm and calm outside the tent, sitting on a simple wooden couch, looking up and listening for a long time. Rain, just lying down again - it's just a war, why is it so difficult?
As soon as he lay down, Bai Yousi hugged him from behind, which made Zhang Xing feel a little relieved.
ps: I would like to thank Mr. Fat Hu, Mr. Hi H and Mr. Huang from the front department for joining the alliance. I am deeply grateful. Of course, I am also grateful to Mr. Li of Lin'an for his strong support.
Goodnight everybody.
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