"Second brother, Luo Dai's troops are in the front. Now their fleeing cavalry has merged with a large number of infantry. Their strength is not inferior to ours. I'm afraid they won't be able to defeat them in a single battle!"
Zhang Wenxiu observed on a high ground for a long time, then put down the telescope and analyzed Zhang Dingguo worriedly.
The other side only saw Luo Dai's general's flag, indicating that these officers and soldiers were his infantry, rather than joining other officers and generals.
Based on this inference, Luo Dai personally led more than a thousand cavalry to the north to aid Gucheng, and the infantry will follow.
It was only because they met Zhang Dingguo and Ma Yuanli's five hundred elite cavalry on the way and saw through their own strategy that they fought a battle.
If he hadn't led the forward cavalry to arrive in time, the forward would have been eaten by Luo Dai.
And he led his troops to chase him all the way, but still failed to capture Luo Dai, which was really annoying to think about.
Now Luo Dai has no less than three to four thousand infantry under his command, and there are dozens of fire cannons in front of the formation, which is really difficult to deal with.
"If you rush into the formation rashly, you are afraid of being injured by its firearms. Otherwise, General Hualong will lead the 4,500 infantry troops to advance in formation. Each of you will lead a team of fine cavalry to outflank the two flanks and fight for First charge into the formation from both sides of the officers and soldiers, and when the chaos breaks out, General Hualong can lead his infantry to charge and kill! I wonder what you two think?"
Zhang Dingguo used his telescope to see a lot of Fo Lang machines and Tiger Crouching Cannons, and he knew the power of these two guns. It was possible to attack them forcefully, but a large number of auxiliary troops would have to be sacrificed.
Furthermore, there are no fewer than two thousand bird cannon soldiers and archers behind the fire cannons. If two thousand infantry are lost during the charge, then the probability of victory will be less than 50%.
Judging from the opponent's formation, although Luo Dai is brave, he also knows a little about the art of war. His formation is not chaotic, with fire blunderbuss in front, bird blunderbuss behind, bows and arrows, and horse pawns and spears on both wings. However, The layout is orderly.
Not only is the frontal firepower powerful, but the two wings are already on guard against possible roundabout and outflanking tactics by one's own cavalry. If one forces a charge, it may be difficult for one's own troops to gain any advantage, and they may even be repulsed by the army.
But Zhang Dingguo felt very unwilling to let Luo Dai's men run away like this. Ma Yuanli had already died in the battle, but Luo Dai was unscathed. This made Zhang Dingguo very angry, especially since Ma Yuanli died because of his own strategy. I always feel a little guilty about it.
"Okay! What General Dingguo said is exactly what he meant!"
Zhang Hualong is just a rough guy and doesn't know any formations or tactics. He can only lead his troops to rush and fight. The marshal's second son has always been very smart, and this time he has planned it well and arranged it in this way, so he can just follow it without any ambiguity.
"Second brother, my foolish brother has sent Pegasus back to report to Commander-in-Chief Father. Commander-in-Chief Father will definitely be prepared after hearing the news!"
Zhang Wenxiu is not sure that his adoptive father can send troops to help, but it is very likely that he can send more reinforcements. Since Luo Dai has surrendered himself, there is no reason for him to run back to Xiangyang like this, not to mention that he has to fight for Ma Yuanli. What's the reward?
"That's good. Let's prepare separately and act as the opportunity arises!"
Zhang Dingguo had just seen the firearms of the official army, and the lineup seemed to have found traces of the Hongyi cannon. Therefore, it was very safe to form an array two miles away from the official army. Fo Langji was determined not to be able to hit such a distance.
So the two sides faced off on a plain west of Xiangshui. Since it was the end of the day and Shen Shi was approaching, it was the hottest time of the day.
The soldiers on both sides, including the generals, were all wearing helmets and pierced armor, staring in the sun with big eyes and small eyes. They could not move around and could only poke in place, for fear that the other party would rush over.
The infantry is not much of a threat, because it takes a lot of time to cover two miles, but the horse pawn is different. Two miles is just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
It would be okay if all the soldiers in the army rested in place, but when they find that the opponent has begun to launch a group charge, it will be very difficult for them to stand up and maintain a highly vigilant formation.
So even if they were just fighting like this, the generals on both sides didn't dare to slack off at all. This kind of confrontation was about the physical strength and endurance of both sides. Whichever side couldn't hold back first would be most likely to lose.
"General Rong! This is not the way to go! The soldiers can hardly bear it anymore! Why not take turns to rest, with about 30% of the troops and horses resting each time, so as to maintain physical strength!"
"... That's fine! Send some people to the river to get water, and make sure our army doesn't run out of water! Then send people to the direction of Xiangyang to see if they can encounter reinforcements sent by the commander-in-chief on the way!"
"yes!"
Luo Dai didn't want to do this, but he saw that his soldiers were all covered in sweat. If things went on like this, even if they didn't suffer from heatstroke, they would be sunk to death. They would be dizzy and dizzy, so why fight? So he agreed with his subordinates. suggestions.
The rebels were cunning. They just lined up for a confrontation without starting a fight. They were obviously waiting for their own side to be demoralized by the scorching sun before launching a fierce attack. It’s just that the general saw through this plan again, haha...
Okay, don’t you want to spend so much time?
Then let's make your wait come true. No one of us should make a move first, let's just do it!
Through the previous battles, Luo Dai also found that this group of rebels was very difficult to deal with. That is to say, at the beginning, they were able to outnumber the enemy.
If the strength of the two sides is evenly matched, our side really won't have much advantage. It can be said that it kills one thousand enemies and suffers eight hundred losses for itself.
Some of the troops under his command are from the previous army, and the other part are from Liu Zeqing's troops. However, they are very cunning. They may be defeated without warning at any time, so they must be commanded carefully.
Furthermore, Luo Dai didn't want to have his troops beaten to pieces by his generals before he even touched Zhang Xianzhong's tail, losing more than half of his troops. It would not be so easy to restore him to his original size.
That's fine, if the enemy doesn't move, I won't move. Stopping quietly is a wonderful move at the moment.
Judging from the sky, it's almost two hours until dark, so that's it.
Before nightfall, if the rebels don't attack, our troops can join up with the reinforcements sent by Hong Shaobao.
Luo Dai estimated that no matter how slowly the reinforcements from Xiangyang walked on the road, it would take most of the day to move to their position.
At present, the forces of both sides are evenly matched. If they charge directly, Luo Dai is not very sure of winning, but if he has twice the strength, he can directly destroy the enemy in front of him.
I'm afraid that the leader of the rebels had the same idea in mind, so they planned to waste time in the scorching sun, unless they were also waiting for reinforcements sent by Zhang Ni.
The current situation is that whoever strikes first is more likely to be defeated. The horse soldiers are okay, mainly the infantry. They wear thick armor in the high temperature and have to run two miles under gunfire before they can kill people.
The other party is waiting for work, waiting for you to rush over and fire arrows. It is as easy as sitting back and waiting for the rabbit, so it depends on which side has greater concentration. If it doesn't work, just wait until dark and try your luck again.
After joining the main force, Luo Dai still had no less than 500 horsemen under his command. Although his offensive ability was much inferior, with spears and blunderbuss and bows, he was more than enough to defend the two wings of the formation.
"Report~! Commander-in-Chief! The thieves and cavalry are moving towards the two wings of my formation!"
"Defend in place! Don't move lightly! Let's see what he can do to me."
It doesn't matter even if the soldiers sent out to fetch water don't come back. It will be dark in two hours. With just the few people on the opposite side, it is impossible to surround our troops. We have to either rush to kill first or harass them. Will retreat on its own.
Luo Dai now insists on implementing the huddle tactics. As long as he does not mess up his position, even if this group of thieves goes around behind him and cuts off his retreat, they will not be able to gain the upper hand. The official army formation is stable, so they can only continue to cruise around.
If you come to charge rashly, you are seeking death. At that time, these openly rebellious thieves will definitely have a taste of the power of the army's arrows and bullets, and they will make you cry like ghosts and run away in all directions!
Luo Dai believed that Hong Shaobao allowed him to serve as the vanguard to find out the reality of Gucheng. Although the army was stationed in Xiangyang, another group of people would be sent on horseback to respond. Otherwise, if his troops were surrounded, he would be on pins and needles after hearing the news.
Since the reinforcements are probably on the way and will be here before dark, the two hours now can be easily passed. It doesn't matter if the thieves are wandering around in front of us, just treat it as a show.
Luo Dai won first and then lost, and had lost for a while, so he was more careful this time and would not make any abrupt moves. As long as the main force was undefeated, he would not suffer much loss.
If he can join up with the reinforcements before dark, he can defeat this extremely arrogant group of thieves in front of him in one fell swoop, leaving him unable to return to Gucheng to see Zhang Ni!
"It's really hateful!"
Zhang Wenxiu led 500 horsemen to detour from the left wing, but did not encounter any obstacles. However, when the officers and soldiers approached, he found that he was a little at a loss.
The opponent surrounded the baggage and food and grass, with about two to three hundred horsemen on the outside waiting for the opportunity, surrounded by spearmen on the outside, and archers and gunmen on the inside.
The defense is almost impeccable. If you charge forward with the few troops you carry, let alone break away from the opponent's formation, even if you get close enough, you will suffer a big loss.
If he had one or two thousand cavalry, Zhang Wenxiu could still give it a try. Now that Zhang Dingguo was given half of the cavalry, he only had 500 left, so he didn't have much confidence.
Therefore, Zhang Wenxiu, who just pretended to shoot a few arrows and frowned, did not order a forced charge, but led his troops to retreat to a nearby high ground to wait and see.
I saw that Zhang Dingguo's troops were also in the same situation, and several horse soldiers were shot over by the officers and soldiers. From this point of view, the pincer attack strategy did not achieve the expected results, and another way had to be found.
"Report~! The army along the way is less than ten miles away. There are about a thousand horsemen and the flag is Liu!"
Just when Zhang Wenxiu was thinking about how to break the formation, Tan Ma, who returned, reported bad news, that is, reinforcements from the government army were about to arrive.
"Okay! Let's explore again!"
After Zhang Wenxiu asked, he thought for a long time, but did not expect that he knew any of the military generals named Liu, so he had to ride his horse to discuss with Zhang Dingguo.
"...There must be no hesitation or delay. We must retreat north as soon as possible!"
After Zhang Dingguo received the report, he thought for a moment and came to the conclusion that if he could not quickly defeat the enemy in front of him, he would not be able to stay here for a long time.
"Second brother, why is this?"
If the opponent only gets a thousand reinforcements, Zhang Wenxiu is not afraid. The reinforcements sent by his father will be arriving soon, and he can still have a showdown with the army.
"Wenxiu knows that Luo Dai's army marches with the horse soldiers in front and the infantry behind. If the reinforcements on this road are arranged in the same way, then there must be three or four thousand infantry behind the horse soldiers! It will not be complete by then. At sunset, the officers and soldiers of Foremen were outnumbered, fearing that the whole army would be annihilated~! How cunning the Hong thieves were. If there were more than three or four thousand official reinforcements, they would use Luo Dai's troops as bait to lure Foremen and others to take the bait. Take advantage of the opportunity. , be sure to evacuate to Gucheng as soon as possible, and quickly send flying cavalry to report this matter to Commander-in-Chief!"
Zhang Dingguo has already realized that this battle is unwinnable. Hong Chengchou has always been full of tricks and tricks. This time, he is not able to deal with the fierce attack. He must let his adoptive father take action to defeat the enemy.
What he can do now is to take as many of the four thousand men back to Gucheng as possible before the official army encircles them. If that doesn't work, taking most of them back can be considered a success.
"... That's fine! Brother Yu, go back and let Hualong retreat quickly!"
Hearing the name Hong Chengchou, Zhang Wenxiu suddenly felt his scalp numb. He thought that in Shaanxi, the Hong thieves had caused the rebels a lot of suffering. Unexpectedly, they would meet again in Huguang this time. It can be said that they are enemies on a narrow road!
Together, he and his second brother were no match for the Hong thief. If he did not want to be eaten up by the officers and soldiers led by the Hong thief, they had to withdraw their troops as soon as possible. When they really saw that the officers and soldiers had more than a thousand horsemen as reinforcements, then It's too late.
This time going south, the two groups have a total of 1,000 elite cavalry and 5,000 auxiliary troops. Now that they have defeated Luo Dai, there are still more than 5,000 left. They are determined not to lose anything. No matter what, they must bring their troops back to Gucheng and fight again. Make plans.
"The third brother will retreat with Hualong first, and I will lead a thousand cavalry to cut off the rear. If the officers and soldiers catch up, they will ambush and defeat them!"
Considering that Luo Dai had lost many cavalry before and might pursue him when he retreated, Zhang Dingguo planned to wait and see if Luo Dai would take the bait so as to avenge Ma Yuanli.
"Second brother, be careful. If the situation is not right, don't be too eager to fight. Be sure to return north!"
Zhang Wenxiu was not afraid of Luo Dai in front of him, but was worried about Hong Chengchou behind him, so he specially warned that being bitten by the elite cavalry of the army was no joke.
Luo Dai saw that the bandit soldiers actually retreated on their own initiative. He didn't know what their intention was. Before thinking about it, he planned to wait and see to avoid falling into the trap.
In order to break off the rear, the horsemen on both wings retreated northward at the end, but this shows that their infantry did not stay nearby to ambush their troops, otherwise there would not have been such an arrangement.
Most of Luo Dai's cavalry had been destroyed, and he was unable to pursue the bandits' cavalry. At most, he could send out some probing horses for spying, and that was all.
They only had a confrontation with their own side for less than an hour. They used the cavalry to test the situation in a roundabout way and then withdrew. What kind of strategy was this? Luo Dai is really puzzled!
When he saw the officers and soldiers coming from the south, he suddenly realized that it was reinforcements sent by Hong Shaobao. No wonder the rebels would withdraw north first.
"Don't chase after the soldiers!"
The person who came was a general under Liu Guoneng and his clan brother, named Liu Zian. He was originally a guerrilla member. Previously, Liu Guoneng was promoted to a higher level, and he followed the rising tide.
This time I was ordered to lead a thousand cavalry to the north in order to meet with Luo Dai's troops. After confirming their position, I could send someone to report to my clan brother.
"Oh? Chief Rong, how do you say this?"
Liu Zian also wanted to seek good luck and counted the killing of some thieves as his victory, but he was stopped by Luo Dai, who hurriedly summarized his previous experience.
After hearing this, Liu Zian also frowned. He did not dare to act rashly. The opponent's troops were not much smaller than his and Luo Dai's troops. If he pursued them rashly, he would most likely fall into a trap and be ambushed by the opponent.
Moreover, the clan brother's army of more than 20,000 is behind him. Once he joins the army and pushes forward, he will no longer be afraid of any plots and tricks by the thieves. Even if there is an ambush, he will kill them all. . ...Friends who read books, you can search "Blue Chinese Network" to find this site as soon as possible.
