As the leader of this army, Wang Gang was naturally protected in the safest place.
Although their situation was dire, he still had loyal and fighting soldiers to protect him.
The soldiers guarded him fiercely, allowing him to survive safely and command the army to avoid attacks and stick to Lujin Town, but this was also a cruel torture for him.
Watching the soldiers being bombed with bloody flesh and blood, there were constant casualties. If they were dead, it would be a total loss. If they were not dead and still lingering, how painful would it be?
He wanted to lead the army to fight a bloody road several times, so he simply fought with the Ming army and saved the soldiers from this heaven-sent crime.
But when he climbed up the city wall and looked at the Ming army's strict military appearance and the siege situation on three levels inside and outside, he knew that with the troops he had, it would be difficult to break out of the siege even if they were all exhausted.
The Ming army was more numerous and powerful than him. If he led his troops to fight out, he might be playing into the Ming army's hands. Holding the town might be the only way to survive, although this road is also extremely difficult.
And maybe this weird firearm of the Ming Army will be used up soon, and once it is used up, there will be no more.
This is what he expected.
However, as time passed, the Ming army not only did not stop bombardment, but also increased its intensity.
The deafening explosions have seriously affected the hearing of Wang Gang and the soldiers. They can't even communicate with words. They have to shout and gesture to communicate successfully.
This is not going to work. Wang Gang knows very well that if this continues, even if reinforcements are received, this army will be destroyed and completely lose its combat effectiveness.
war?
Stick to it?
Wang Gang was very confused.
The only thing he hopes now is for the reinforcements to come quickly. If the reinforcements don't come, he will really be doomed. He hopes that his old superior Liu Qi will not abandon him. After all, he has ten thousand troops here. For Liu Qi, what's the point? It’s considered a stretch, right?
Of course Liu Qi would not abandon his subordinates. If he could abandon them, Liu Qi's military career would end here, and he would die in the army.
Although it is an old tradition of this army to stay still when friendly forces are in trouble, it is an immoral thing no matter what. If you do something immoral, you must be prepared to be counterattacked by this immorality.
Liu Qi obviously did not intend to do immoral things to his subordinates.
Liu Si and Wei You led an infantry of 10,000 horses from Yangzhou and hurried to Lujin Town to relieve the siege.
Halfway through, Liu Si heard the military information sent by the sentries and learned that the Ming army was very large, with tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and the water surrounding Lujin Town was impenetrable.
All roads leading to Lujin Town are currently blocked by Ming army fortifications. If you want to rescue, you must break through a certain road. According to the judgment beforehand, considering the combat effectiveness of the Ming army, it is very difficult to break through a certain road. So big.
They only have 10,000 soldiers and horses. If they rush forward so recklessly, they may not be able to rescue them at all, and they may also be ruined.
So Liu Bang began to discuss with Wei You.
"The Ming army has many soldiers and I have few. It will be difficult to rush forward like this. It may also make you trapped in a tight siege and bury yourself in it. I don't think it is possible to rush forward like this."
Wei You thought about it and thought it made sense, so he asked, "Then what are you going to do?"
"Why don't we try to attack the Ming army's food road from the flank?"
Liu Bang said: "General Wang has 10,000 soldiers and horses. No matter how difficult it is, he can persist for a while and attract the main force of the Ming army. Our army can take this opportunity to go around to the rear of the Ming army and attack their food roads!
In this way, we can also recover the fallen Gaoyou, Baoying and Shanyang, and even burn the pontoon bridges they built on the Huaihe River to destroy their retreat. Once the Ming army loses its retreat, the entire army will inevitably be in chaos. In this way, our army can even Annihilate the collapsed Ming army! General Wei, what do you think? "
Wei You looked happy after hearing this.
"He is indeed the nephew of a famous general. If we can destroy the Ming army's food route, we will definitely be able to reverse the current war situation in one fell swoop. Let's do it like this!"
Liu Si was very happy and immediately arranged sentinels to explore the road. At the same time, he selected 3,000 strong elites from the army, fed them well, had enough rest, and then carried dry food and followed him to bypass the decisive battle between the Ming army and Wang Gang. , quickly attacked the rear of the Ming army.
Wei You was responsible for leading the remaining troops to slowly advance to Lujin Town to attract the attention of the Ming army, making the Ming army think that only one Song army reinforcement came to support Wang Gang's besieged troops, thus losing their alert to the surprise attack force. heart of.
In this way, this unexpected surprise attack can be successful.
At almost the same moment, Zhou Zhi also discussed tactics with instructor Zhou Zhixue and You Yijun deputy general Ma Hongxing.
Through the report of the sentry, Zhou Zhi learned that a Song army was approaching Lujin Town. It seemed that they were reinforcements coming to support the besieged Song army. There were many of them, about 10,000 people, and they moved quickly. , should be the elite division of the Song Army.
"Of course we can meet the supporting Song army here and defeat them, but we may not be able to annihilate them all. According to intelligence, Liu Qi has at least 40,000 to 50,000 troops.
The total number of people besieged by us and those who came to support us is 20,000. If we eat 20,000 people in one go, wouldn't Liu Qi's strength be greatly damaged?
Liu Qi not only has to defend Yangzhou, but also Zhenjiang and Guazhoudu. Although there are many troops, they are not so sufficient once they are scattered. I thought this was our opportunity. "
Zhou Zhi proposed the idea.
Ma Hongxing looked at the signs on the map and said, "What are you going to do, general?"
"I think we might as well send people to outflank their rear while facing them head-on, and also cut off the support army's retreat, so that the support army can completely become our army's military exploits. How about that?"
Zhou Zhi smiled and said: "Our army has the advantage, especially in field battles. We can send troops to quickly outflank and attack from the side and rear of the Song army's reinforcements. Then the Song army will inevitably be in chaos. What do you think? "
Ma Hongxing and Zhou Zhixue looked at each other, but neither made sense of Zhou Zhi's idea.
So Zhou Zhi's order was approved. Ma Hongxing personally led an elite cavalry force of 5,000 people, quickly circled to the rear of the Song army's reinforcements, cut off the retreat of the Song army's reinforcements, attacked them from both front and back, and tried to eat them in one bite!
So soon, Ma Hongxing also led his troops to attack.
The two armies adopted the same method very cleverly, intending to take the enemy's retreat and make them unable to advance or retreat.
What is even more coincidental is that at noon on April 4th, the raiding force led by Ma Hongxing and the raiding force led by Liu Si collided.
The sentinels on both sides discovered the existence of the other side. The sentinels had a melee first, and each brought back the news of the discovery of the enemy.
Ma Hongxing was greatly surprised.
"Did the Song army anticipate our army's actions in advance? As expected of a famous general, Liu Qi is really good at using troops!"
Liu Si was also very surprised.
"Has the Ming army already understood our army's action plan? No wonder the Ming army was able to defeat the Jin army and destroy the Jin Kingdom. The generals of the Ming army are really powerful!"
Up to this moment, both sides believed that the other side had seen through their plot, that the plot had failed, that they had been exposed, and that continuing to do so might not lead to better results.
But then the two made different decisions.
Liu Bang felt that since the surprise attack had been discovered, there was no need to continue. The surprise attack plan had failed and there was no point in continuing to march. Although it was a pity, the most important thing now was to retreat and preserve the strength of Xu Tu to move forward later. Keep going.
So he ordered the army to prepare to retreat and not to tangle with the Ming army.
He believed that the general of the Ming army opposite would make the same choice.
But he was wrong, Ma Hongxing didn't see it that way.
"Even if the Song army is on guard, our army is strong and has strong combat effectiveness. There is no reason to be afraid of him. If the surprise attack fails, then simply break the attack! The general's order must be completed! Fight the enemy openly and openly. Our Ming army has never been afraid of it. who!"
Liu Si ordered the army to retreat in an orderly manner and not to confront the Ming army head-on. He only planned to leave suspicious soldiers to intimidate the Ming army and prevent the Ming army from pursuing them.
But he didn't expect that Ma Hongxing was very decisive and the Ming army moved very quickly.
“The Ming army is fearless! Let’s go to war!!!”
The Ming army cavalry roared in.
