At three o'clock in the afternoon, the wind picked up. The snow was not too big or too small, but the wind blew it on my face, which was cold and painful.
Just south of Jiaocheng, dark clouds were overwhelming, and tens of thousands of bandit troops came in force. This group of more than 20,000 people was the vanguard of the bandit army. They were led by bandit generals Ren Jirong and Ma Chongxi to attack Jiaocheng.
When they arrived less than ten miles away from Jiaocheng, Tan Ma came to report: Black smoke billowed in the city, and the officers and soldiers were withdrawing northward!
Withdrawn? Ren Jirong interrogated Tan Ma in detail and was not sure whether all the officers and soldiers had withdrawn. Worried about fraud, he immediately ordered a halt to the march, and then sent 3,000 cavalry to confirm. At the same time, he sent someone to report to Li Zicheng in the rear immediately.
In a tent on the north bank of the Wuli River in the north of Jiaocheng, Chang Yu, Zhou Yuji, Niu Yong and other generals were staring at the river bank fortifications to discuss this.
"With this river channel alone, there is no danger to defend. It is difficult to withstand a wave of bandit charges. If you need to fight, retreat" Zhou Yuji murmured.
How to retreat is a technical job. If you retreat in a hurry when the bandits attack, it will probably lead to a defeat, and Taiyuan City will be in danger. You must know that the military strength here is almost the entire Taiyuan.
"Leave a force to support them and retreat while fighting," Niu Yong suggested. For veteran drivers like them who have been on the battlefield for a long time, they have a lot of experience.
That is the so-called taking turns. One team is left to fight, and the other team is waiting. The one in front will withdraw after the fight, and the one behind will take over. In this way, it takes turns to minimize the chance of defeat and attack the thieves. The morale and fighting spirit of the army in pursuit.
After Zhou Yuji finally made the decision, he immediately ordered his troops to make arrangements, leaving 30,000 horses to fight in the river, and the remaining two miles east and west to deploy 10,000 horses as support.
Everything is ready, all it takes is the east wind. Looking at the snowy sky outside, Zhou Yuji frowned deeply and suddenly turned to look at Chang Yu: "What if the bandit army doesn't fight?"
The disabled and logistical non-combatants of the Ming army have already withdrawn towards Taiyuan. They stayed here to fight a blocking battle and then withdraw to Taiyuan.
But what if they don't fight? Do they have to spend the night in the wild with heavy snow? I'm afraid we don't need an army of thieves to fight, and we will freeze to death if we don't starve to death. Isn't this a bad move?
"He can fight." Chang Yu chuckled and summoned a spy. After whispering a few words in his ear, the spy got on his horse and crossed Henan.
Looking at the soldiers who were preparing to attack on the river bank, Chang Yu was so heroic that he fought quickly and left after the fight. When he arrived in Taiyuan City, he was dealing with these grandsons.
The officers and soldiers set fire to Jiaocheng. This was a cruel move. After receiving the report, Li Zicheng's face showed a fierce expression, and he immediately ordered the cannon fodder refugees to demolish the villages they passed. After all, although food was important at this time, fuel was also essential. few!
"The officers and soldiers gathered on the river bank five miles north of the city. Apparently they want to fight us again. It seems they are a little distracted."
The thief general Liu Tiren snorted coldly and glanced at Li Guo beside him: "In Bohou's opinion, should we fight those gangsters?"
Li Guo chuckled and said, "Of course, otherwise I won't be able to get rid of my anger."
Previously, Chang Yu was prepared to fight, and he was tortured with a small victory, which made him angry. Of course, he had to regain his position at this time.
"The officers and soldiers gathered at the river in the north of the city. Their intention is nothing more than to take advantage of the small victory before and have another sniper battle with us to boost morale. After all, since the rebels crossed the river, the officers and soldiers have never faced a head-on battle, and the morale of the military and the people has been greatly lost. , they really need one or two battles at this time to save face and boost military morale." Niu Jinxing stood up and walked to Li Zicheng to talk.
"However, the officers and soldiers retreated in a hurry at this time. They retreated immediately after the blocking battle. They could not reserve too many supplies and the baggage would become a burden. Therefore, I am sure that the officers and soldiers went into battle lightly at this time. If I could not wait with them, Fighting, in this severe cold weather, it will be difficult for them to survive the night, and they lack the necessary luggage and cannot camp. Moreover, the wilderness is unsafe and unsuitable for camping. They must withdraw their troops back to Taiyuan overnight and retreat without a fight. This is the best policy. At dawn We can drive straight to Taiyuan City in a short while, so there is no need to cooperate with the officers and soldiers in fighting him."
After Niu Jinxing finished speaking, Song Xiance, Gu Junen, Li Yan and others also nodded in agreement.
"You also know that the officers and soldiers are here to boost morale. Our army was taken advantage of by the enemy. It is at a time when morale is low. Shouldn't we boost the morale of the army? Moreover, it is just a river ditch. It can be leveled with a wave of the hand. It can both attack the officers and soldiers and It can boost morale, so why not do it!”
Li Guo was dissatisfied and came forward to argue. Zhang Nai, Liu Tiren and others also agreed, and for a while there was a lot of shouting and speculation in the tent.
Wen wanted to defeat the enemy without fighting, but military wanted to attack with real force. The two sides were so hyped that Li Zicheng's head got bigger and he glanced sideways at Liu Zongmin next to him: "What do you want?"
Liu Zongmin was the number one person under Li Zicheng and had absolute say. This was something Li Guo could not compare with.
But he is also a rough man, and his character is very low, but usually this kind of rough man is easier to trust people. For example, he felt that he had a very opportunistic relationship with Chang Yu, and he hated meeting Chang Yu so late that he even went around after he came back. Helping him promote it, but he was slapped in the face after just one night, which really made him so angry that he wanted to eat the eunuch alive.
However, he and Li Guo were sworn enemies, and he would happily do anything that could make Li Guo lose his temper. It seems that he decided again...
"Why waste our troops fighting if we can retreat without fighting? Otherwise, we will sacrifice our brothers' lives in vain!"
Li Zicheng nodded slightly. Of course he was also the type who wanted to chop off Zhou Yuji and Chang Yu's heads immediately, but as a big tycoon, he had incomparable calmness and restraint.
"Ren Jirong is ordered to camp in the city tonight and not to fight with the officers and soldiers. After the officers and soldiers have withdrawn tomorrow morning..."
"Report..." Just then a messenger ran in panting: "The officers and soldiers sent someone to deliver a message..."
"Say" Li Zicheng saw that the ordering soldier looked a little frightened, and said something bad in his heart.
"Tell me, tell me, a eunuch named Chang Yu among the officers and soldiers sent a message to Bohou, saying that he killed King Xiaochuang with his own hands. He is waiting in the north to send Bohou to go downstairs to meet Prince Xiaochuang and his son. Reunion..."
"Fuck his grandma!" Before the messenger could finish his words, Li Guo started yelling and scolding him. He kicked over the long table in front of him and walked up to Li Zicheng: "Father, my child is asking for a fight. Please give me the order to avenge Laiheng!"
"My subordinates ask for a fight, please give me the order!" Gao Yigong, Zhang Nai, Liu Tiren, Hao Yaoqi and other generals stood up to ask for a fight.
Li Zicheng clenched his teeth at this time, trembling with anger, clenching his fists, and veins bulging out. You must know that he also loved Li Laiheng extremely. The hero of the generation was finally angered: "Send the order, send troops! Fan kill that eunuch. The bounty for the dog-headed man is one hundred taels!”
At the river bank defense line, Chang Yu watched the cold wind raging outside the tent with an expressionless face. Outside the tent, Li Zicheng was leading his generals to inspect the defense line. At this time, based on this big river, the Ming army established a three-mile-long defense line and prepared for a sniper battle. , if the bandit army does not come, all preparations will be in vain.
Report that the bandit army is less than five miles away from Jiaocheng.
After reporting, the vanguard of the rebel army, three thousand cavalry, entered Jiaocheng.
Report, the bandit army entered Jiaocheng
…………
The detective horses came one after another to report. Chang Yu's expression was calm, but Zhou Yuji and others were like ants on a hot pot, pacing back and forth.
"It's getting dark, I'm afraid our work has been in vain." Zhou Yuji stood at the door of the tent and looked up at the sky. It was already after four o'clock. It gets dark quickly in winter, and with the light snow, the sky was already gray. Extremely poor distance.
"Don't worry, it will definitely come"! Chang Yu stood up, walked to the entrance of the tent, and patted Zhou Yuji on the shoulder. "General Zhou, we have the right time, right place and right people for this battle. We are sure to win, so there is no need to be so nervous."
The right time, right place and right people? Zhou Yuji was startled, then looked at the sky, "How can we fight when it's dark..." He suddenly smiled and said, "Yes! The time, place and people are favorable!"
"Report to your lord, the bandits have left the city..." At this time, a detective came to report.
Zhou Yuji was shocked and immediately ran towards the shore: "Send the order to prepare for war!"
Chang Yu also shouted: "Fang San, my armor!"
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I typed more than 6,000 words the day before yesterday, but my computer froze and I couldn’t save a single character. I felt like dying...
