It was dark around Honghu Lake at night. Except for the flashing lights of a few villages and towns that were lit by unknown people, there were only fire dragons composed of torches held by the advancing Qing army, slowly moving toward the crow. Neijingshui advance north of Linzhen.
It has to be said that the scene of hundreds of thousands of troops lining up in neat lines, holding torches, and surging forward under the night is indeed extremely spectacular and can be said to be breathtaking. But Fang Shiyu, who was witnessing all this from the sky, only felt that the Qing troops carrying torches were very pitiful, they were just a group of pigs and sheep heading to the slaughterhouse to be slaughtered.
Fang Shiyu, who had received a serious military education, could figure out a pocket formation in his mind to defeat this Qing army - it was so easy! Those villages that were set on fire had long been marked on a military map in Fang Shiyu's hand. With these villages as coordinates, Fang Shiyu could tell at a glance what route the Qing army was going to take.
By observing the number of torches, Fang Shiyu could also estimate the number of people in the Qing army - he could even count how many generals there were in the Qing army! Because the infantry of the Qing army usually formed a leading-level column formation when advancing in the wild frontier areas, so that they could be deployed immediately and put into battle in an emergency. Each leading column will maintain a certain distance from each other to avoid squeezing into a ball in the event of an attack. Therefore, the long march of the Qing army was not continuous, but section by section. Fang Shiyu only needs to count the "number of sections" to know how many participants are coming...
After counting twice, Fang Shiyu was sure that the number of Qing army's staff members was exactly one hundred and twenty!
So he immediately said to an aerial soldier beside him: "Light it up for me."
"yes."
A lantern was immediately brought up, and Fang Shiyu held a map clamped on a wooden board. He took out a lead stick and wrote and drew on the map. Then he took off the map, rolled it up, stuffed it into a long tube tied with a rope, and finally hung the long tube with a rope and lowered it to the ground. .
Of course there were people guarding the hot air balloon. One of them got the long tube, got on his horse, and galloped towards Wulin Town.
At this time, the Ming Army's Wulin Camp had also woken up from its slumber, and was busy lighting fires and cooking meals with its chief leaders as units. The entire camp had turned into a sea of lights in the darkness, and there were already many people rushing in. The leaders of the advance team braved the night and drove out of the camp and headed for their respective goals to seize the bridge over the Neijing River and a dozen villages on the north bank of the Neijing River. From time to time, the sound of horseshoe bells rings. These are the messengers who pass the news back and forth. Through them, all aspects of intelligence are gathered to the Admiral of the First Army of the Ming Dynasty in Wulin Town, and the orders of the Admiral of the First Army are also They were passed to various strongholds on the frontier.
The map drawn by Fang Shiyu was also sent to the Admiral's Office in an ancestral hall in the center of Wulin Town by one of the messengers, and was placed in front of First Army Admiral Yu Xiaoqian, Deputy Admiral Ling Zongjun and Qiu Hu who joined the army. There were still three maps with almost the same content - the Admiral's Department of the First Army released a total of four hot air balloons, giving a clear view of Yue Le's army.
Qiu Hu, the young and somewhat exaggerated national army commander, took the map from a staff officer and looked at it. He then said to Yu Xiaoqian and Ling Zongjun who were standing in front of the map table and staring at a long list of wooden models: "It's better. One hundred and twenty leaders, as stated in the intelligence sent above...the target should be the Neijing River north of Wulin. Yue Le probably wants to occupy the north bank of the Neijing River first and compress us on the Yangtze River and Neijingjiang, and then decide whether to fight or encircle depending on the situation."
This time, Yue Le was not only completely sold out, but also clearly understood. All he had to do was send the army's establishment list and combat plan text to Qiu Hu, Qiu's military advisor, for study.
Yu Xiaoqian smiled and asked: "Qiu Laohu, do you have a plan?"
As Zhu Heji's "brother", Yu Xiaoqian is very knowledgeable about politics. He is creating opportunities for his uncle to make meritorious deeds... Now the Su family in the country has many generals and is powerful. With the grand concubine Ye Yuling as the general backstage, it will be of no benefit to anyone if it continues to develop. The queen's eldest brother Qiu Rong was only a naval general and was not very good at land warfare, so he had to promote Qiu Laohu, the "child military advisor".
"Yes," the tiger-headed Qiu Hu said with a smile, "we can set up a pocket formation... Our people can first cross the Neijing River, and then form a formation with their backs to the water, so that a pocket formation can be set up. Wait for the Qing army Once inside, strike immediately without giving them time to deploy and build fortifications."
Neijingjiang River is a tributary of the Yangtze River, connecting the Yangtze River and Honghu Lake. In this area of Wulin Town, the flowing route of the river forms a natural large pocket array. The Ming army only needs to cross the Neijing River and then spread out against the water to form a pocket formation.
Ling Zongjun asked: "What about the artillery bombardment? How long will it last?"
"Instead of firing artillery, just ask the grenadiers to throw some smoke bombs." Qiu Hu said, "The area around the Neijing River is full of paddy fields. Solid bullets cannot be fired at all, and explosive bombs can easily destroy the fuses. I guess Only 10% or 20% of the ammunition can explode, and the blasting effect of explosive shells in the mud is not very good."
Ling Zongjun nodded, and then asked Yu Xiaoqian, "Admiral, do you think Ahuzai's plan is okay?"
Yu Xiaoqian smiled and said: "It's generally okay...but we still need to arrange a team to go back behind Qing Yao, so it's perfect!"
"Okay!" Ling Zongjun smiled, "Then let me do it, give me two towns...I will make dumplings for Yue Le!"
"Okay!" Yu Xiaoqian nodded and said to Qiu Hu, "Pass the order, at three o'clock, all troops must be assembled... In addition, the Military Affairs Department will immediately formulate a plan to determine the location of each town!"
"yes!"
...
Yue Le reined in his horse again, stood up on the stirrups, and glanced uneasily into the distance.
The fire on the Yangtze River has not been extinguished yet! Not only was it not extinguished, but it also burned very fiercely, and the sky was reflected in a large area of red. There are also flashes of fire in Wulin Town - but that's not surprising. The Yangtze River is burned like that. How can the Ming army in Wulin Town sleep peacefully? This heart is too big!
But... Yue Le always feels like something is wrong!
He suddenly felt like he was being watched, which was quite uncomfortable!
But such a thing should be impossible!
Because Yue Le sent a large number of cavalry to open the way ahead and move around the army, forming an airtight shield!
This is the advantage of having elite cavalry. The battlefield is one-way transparent to the side with a large number of elite cavalry.
If there were any commanding heights nearby, the Ming army might be able to overlook the battlefield from a high position. But it's all flat here, and the nearest commanding point is Chibi Mountain on the south bank of the Yangtze River! This is too far away, and there is a Yangtze River blocking the delivery of the message...
Maybe the Ming army could see the light from the Qing army's torches from a distance, but they could only see it dimly. It's impossible to know the specific situation.
And the Qing army has a huge advantage!
Now there are countless knights running back and forth, constantly bringing the military information from the front.
"Your Majesty, the rebels on the north bank of the Neijing River are burning down the village they are entrenched in!"
"Your Majesty, a small group of rebel infantry has been discovered on the north bank of the Neijing River. They have seized several wooden bridges."
"Your Majesty, the area around Wulin Town should be the old camp of the Ming Army... there are a lot of fires flickering there!"
Hearing the report, Yue Le just smiled: "The Ming army in Wulin should also know that we are coming. They are probably burying pots to make rice. They are preparing to come and fight us after a good meal, right?"
Fei Yanggu, the powerful general next to him, responded with a smile: "Your Majesty, if this subordinate is a general of the rebels, he will definitely dig trenches around the camp at this time... Let's advance faster and don't let them take over. The fortress is too strong, otherwise it would be difficult to fight!"
Yue Le waved his hand and said: "Don't worry...Wulin is on the bank of the Yangtze River. As long as the rebel navy in Chibi is burned down, we can attack them by land and water without fear of them holding on. They have no external aid, so they can hold on. It is also a dead end. So at this time, we must give them some time to defend, and we will surround them!"
"Your Majesty is wise!"
