When they left, they were full of murderous intent, but when they came back, they were silent. Although they fought for half an hour without losing their helmets and armor, they still returned in embarrassment. They counted the losses of 1,000 wounded to the enemy and 800 to themselves. The 6,000 soldiers of King Guangmao surrendered and 4,000 were returned. More than a thousand people were killed. As a warm-up battle, this battle was brutal enough.
It was not a defeat, but it was in vain. Wang Tizhong and Xu Hongji looked gloomy and solemn as they followed Lu Daqi and his troops back to the city. With Wu Sangui and Ma Ke behind them, they didn't have to worry about the bandits chasing after them.
Although he did not return in triumph, he was not blamed by Chang Yu and even went to greet him outside the city. He praised the soldiers for fighting well, showing the blood of Ming men and the dignity of the officers and soldiers!
For such a move, at first the soldiers thought he was saying something sarcastic and mocking him, but then they gradually discovered that this was not the case. The young eunuch truly praised him and wanted to record his merits for the soldiers who participated in the battle and reward them heavily in the future. This made the soldiers rejoice and swept away the dark clouds of their previous defeat. And light.
Food was placed in the yamen and all the generals participating in the battle were there. Chang Yu looked at everyone and said, "Tell me where you are controlled?"
"The terrain is narrow and crisscrossed with ravines, making it difficult for our cavalry to enter." Jin Shenghuan spoke first, and Chang Yu hummed, "What else?"
"And the bandit army is too fierce... I can't defeat my humble subordinates..." Jin Shenghuan swallowed and glanced at Xu Hongji secretly as he spoke. He was relieved to see Xu Hongji slowly drinking tea.
"It's good to know that you are inadequate!" Chang Yu nodded slightly and looked at Lu Daqi: "Why don't you, Master Shangshu, say something?"
Lu Daqi smiled bitterly: "The bandit army has absolute geographical and military advantages. These two points alone are not invincible to our army today. Their suppression by hundreds of archers on the eastern hillside was one of the main reasons for our defeat."
Chang Yu nodded and looked at Wang Tizhong: "General Wang, please say something too."
"The general has nothing to say, he has no face to say it!" Wang Tizhong lowered his head and let out a long sigh. Chang Yu smiled and did not push him anymore but looked at Wu Sangui: "General Wu, tell me your opinion."
Wu Sangui thought for a moment and said: "My lord, please forgive me for bluntly saying that you cannot attack forcefully! Due to the terrain restrictions, small forces cannot enter, and large forces cannot enter. If you fight hard, the additional damage will not be worth the loss, and even if you kill two After all, three miles is useless. General Wang also said before that the mountain road is more than ten miles long, and it becomes more and more steep as you go in. The rebel army is guarded at every turn. If we want to forcefully break through these ten miles of mountain road, I am afraid that even if the team is scattered, it may not be successful. !”
"So how do you think we should fight?" Chang Yu picked up the tea cup and blew a sip and said slowly. Wu Sangui shook his head slightly: "The final general has no good strategy, but I feel that a hard attack will cost too much!"
Chang Yu looked at Ma Ke again.
"Perhaps we have to divide our troops to outflank them after all," Marco said softly, frowning and rubbing his head: "If we divide our troops into one group, we can either go by water or take mountain roads to bypass the enemy's rear, so that we can defeat the enemy in one fell swoop!"
Chang Yu turned his head to look at Li Muxian and saw that he was frowning and silent, so he said to everyone: "This matter should be discussed in a long-term and urgent manner." Then Kuang Ren ordered him to send people across the river to inquire about the news on the other side.
The other side naturally does not refer to the other side of Tongling, but to the north of Anqing City.
The fighting is going on here, and the intensity is no less intense than in the south of Tongling City just now.
After several bloody battles, Gao Jie and the other three managed to break through the dangers of the river embankment. Just when they were about to touch the city wall, they were blocked by the bandits. They had to kick even if it was a steel plate.
The bandits stationed near the river had no other choice but to fight hard. After the three people agreed, they immediately led their troops and arrived at the riverside. The bandits on the other side were densely packed with at least five thousand people, and Anqing City was a few miles behind them.
When the bandit army first met us, there were only about 2,000 people left after several rounds of fighting. Why did they suddenly increase their numbers by so many? Is it possible that new reinforcements were transferred from the city? Gao Jie frowned and muttered, it was too difficult to attack with so many people!
"Look at this formation, not only troops have been mobilized from the city, but also the bandit army blocking our retreat has also been mobilized here." Liu Zeqing gritted his teeth. This bandit general is very flexible in using his troops. Maybe we have been led by him all the time. of.
What he said is indeed true. Cheng Niandong formulated a complete plan to defend against the enemy as soon as he learned that the officers and soldiers were coming. There are only two roads from the north to Anqing, one is the mountain road and the other is the river and lake road. The mountain road is steep and difficult to travel, and it takes far away and there is a high chance that the officers and soldiers will encounter it. Choosing to march from the river embankment, he divided his troops into two routes, blocking the enemy on the east route, and containing the enemy on the west route to form a pincer attack situation.
Cheng Niandong first thought that the officers and soldiers might withdraw after failing to achieve a single blow, but to his surprise, these officers and soldiers were really ruthless, and after several bloody battles, they became more and more courageous.
His original intention of going out of the city to defend the enemy was to waste his officers and soldiers. If he fought forcefully, he would waste himself, which would be more than worth the loss. And it was completely unnecessary. It would be more comfortable to go back to defend the city. So they evacuated in time that night and began to implement the second plan, retreating to the second position, which was the river outside the city.
At this point in the battle, the outcome was obvious. Although Cheng Niandong didn't know why the officers and soldiers rushed forward like crazy, he knew that if they were to waste another tough battle, even if they touched the city wall, they would only be able to look at the city and sigh.
Nearly ten thousand people may seem like a huge force, but they are all cavalry and have no baggage. In addition, the damage caused by these several battles is not small, and morale is low. After the final battle, the casualties will inevitably be greater. What else can they expect to attack at that time? city? Consumption can also consume them to death!
So facing Gao Jiesanran's fierce attack, Cheng Niandong, who was watching the battle from the other side, looked very relaxed and even smiled.
But the faces of Gao Jie and the three of them are getting more and more ugly. To the south is the surging Yangtze River, and to the north is the endless Linghu Lake. Between the two waters is a river that is more than three feet wide and about two to three miles long. Although the river is not too wide, the water flow I don’t know how deep the turbulence is. If there are ships crossing the water, it may not be too difficult to attack by force. Now if there are no ships or no ships, do we expect soldiers to go to the water and land?
How can the bandit army on the other side easily do what you want, not to mention that they have hundreds of archers waiting on the shore. It is obvious that the bandit army replenished their armaments from the city yesterday, but Gao Jie and the others fought all the way here and there are very few armaments left. Many soldiers have arrows. The bag is empty!
If there was sufficient firepower to suppress it, there would still be a possibility of a successful attack, but now...the firepower is no match for the rebels, and they don't even have an advantage in terms of military strength!
The three people's brows were twisted with worry. Just now they were fierce and wanted to attack by force, but looking at this formation, the price of losses would be extremely heavy if they attacked by force!
This made the three of them entangled!
Liu Liangzuo looked around the lake: "Why don't we send a group of troops to cross the river to the north and go around the enemy's rear?" However, he was opposed by Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing. First of all, the river connecting Shitang Lake to Ling Lake was very wide, although there were no thieves. It is not easy for the army to defend the crossing. Secondly, the detour is too far and the rebel army will definitely be prepared and may even steal the chicken but lose the rice!
"That's the case, let's prepare for a strong attack. Life or death is doomed at the last moment!" Liu Liangzuo sighed. Liu Zeqing and Gao Jie looked at each other and nodded slightly, then ordered their men to prepare for war. If there were no ships, they would chop down trees and build rafts. But this time It is impossible to push it to the city before noon. The fastest way is in the evening, and the prerequisite is to rush over!
Just when the soldiers were sharpening their swords, felling wood and building rafts in preparation for a strong attack, soldiers came to report that several big bosses from Li Yan's tribe had arrived at the rear. The faces of Gao Jie and the three of them became extremely embarrassed, and they looked at each other speechless for a moment!
The leaders of the Shenji Battalion and the Guards who arrived were Wu Weiying, Liu Wenbing, Wei Shichun, and Zhang Qingzhen. Although these people had no great military exploits, they had high status as two earls and two marquises, so the three of them had to bite the bullet and go see them.
vertex
