The coming of night is not the end of pain for Zhang Wenbiao's Jiangbei army. Although they have suffered enough from the opponent's harassment during the day, the night is even more difficult. The nightmare of last night was still vivid in my mind, so even though the camp had been pushed back several miles, and a large number of people were assigned to dig trenches in front of the formation during the day, setting up snagging ropes to stop the horses, etc., the tense atmosphere still enveloped the entire camp after dark.
Of course, Zhang Wenbiao did not dare to neglect. He knew that if the attack last night happened again, the morale of the army would collapse and morale would fall to the bottom.
In view of this, Zhang Wenbiao ordered the front camp troops and horses to be prepared to defend against the enemy, and mobilized tens of thousands of Chinese troops to prepare for support. At the same time, a large number of scouts were sent to closely monitor the surroundings of Tanzhou City. If the other party showed signs of taking action, they would respond immediately.
The only 20,000 cavalry in the army also took advantage of the darkness to sneak back to both sides of the camp. If it was discovered that the other party was once again bombing the camp according to yesterday's method, then Zhang Wenbiao would rush in at all costs even if he did not have the 20,000 cavalry. When they get to the city, the abandoned horse ants attach themselves to the city and try their best to destroy these terrible long-range killer weapons.
However, what Zhang Wenbiao didn't know was that Li Yuan had no plans to attack the camp tonight. On the one hand, all the cannons have been installed on the city wall, and it is not convenient to move them back and forth. On the other hand, there are not many explosive shells anymore, and there are a lot of iron ball shells, but now it is not a siege, it cannot cause much damage to the opponent, and it will waste the life of the cannon in vain.
Furthermore, the fool also knows that the opponent will definitely be prepared tonight and is ready to fight, so how can he go up to meet the opponent's knife tip?
Not attacking the camp does not mean not harassing them. On the contrary, it is necessary to use the pressure brought by the attack on the camp last night and the harassment during the day to make the opponent uneasy and disrupt them. The so-called imaginary is real, and the real is imaginary. It is necessary to play some tricks to scare people.
Therefore, after dark, Li Yuan ordered Zouping to lead some of the bodyguard cavalry out of the city and began to drive away and hunt the scouts around the city. The purpose of this is to make the opponent deaf and blind. When the opponent does not know about the military deployment under Tanzhou City, they will become more suspicious and dare not relax for a moment.
The guards of Zouping were stimulated today. When His Majesty commended the barbarians today, they actually felt unhappy. Although there are at least 10,000 to 20,000 Dongxi barbarians in the Yulin army, they have already integrated with their brothers in the army, and the barbarian soldiers' performance today was indeed outstanding and they deserve this commendation.
But the latest armors and weapons that the imperial concubine gave them were always unique to the guard camp around Li Yuan, and the most important thing was to hear His Majesty praise these Dongxi barbarians and let the imperial concubine reward them personally. I feel unhappy.
However, Li Yuan took the initiative and organized these barbarians into the guard camp, and Zouping became their commander-in-chief. The envious and jealous guards camp men felt helpless when they saw the barbarians became their comrades, but they also calmed down. Quite a few, and the remaining anger in his stomach naturally spilled on the enemy.
Zouping led his cavalry around the city. When they encountered the opponent's scouts, they chased them desperately until they hunted down their opponents. On several occasions, in order to hunt down several cavalry scouts, Zouping even led his men to chase them in front of the enemy's camp, and shot them dead in front of the military camp, which was extremely vicious.
The methods of the cavalry guards were certainly fierce. The hundreds of scouts sent to the city quickly died and fled, unable to gain a foothold at all. As a result, Zhang Wenbiao's Jiangbei army became deaf and blind.
In desperation, they could only continue to send people to risk their lives for reconnaissance. The scouts sent did not dare to stay long and fled back after taking one look. Even if this is the case, if you send one hundred and get back less than fifty, the opponent's horse is fast and his arrows are hasty, just like an evil ghost seeking his life.
After going back and forth, the scout battalion responsible for detecting the news suffered hundreds of casualties from a thousand scouts, and the rest were not willing to die anymore. However, he couldn't grasp the enemy's movements without exploring the news. The matter was in a dilemma. Fang Heng, the general of the scout camp, had no choice but to find Zhang Gu, the former camp commander of the Jiangbei Army, and asked for additional manpower. He also sent manpower to assist in responding to the scouts' news. , so as not to be hunted unscrupulously by the other party.
Zhang Gu also understood the importance of the matter. If he could not detect the movements of the opponent's soldiers and horses, he would not be confident.
After all, the soldiers and horses of his front camp failed to respond to the attack last night, resulting in heavy casualties. If it happened again, he would not want his head. Finally, by taking advantage of the fact that the Yangzhou court was in urgent need of recruits, and with Zhang Wenbiao's status as a distant relative, he was promoted several levels from a small battalion general to a former battalion general commanding 50,000 troops. Of course, he must cherish his current high position.
"Who is willing to select some of his capable soldiers to help scout?" Zhang Gu asked the next general.
The generals were silent, who was willing to help the scouts do these dirty work. The person sent is basically a dead man, who is willing to die. It is definitely useless to send new soldiers, but it is reluctant to send elite veterans. Now in the army, the veterans are the backbone and the meat and potatoes. If one dies, one will be missing.
"What? No one is willing? It is extremely important to detect the enemy's situation. If we don't know the enemy's movements, how will we deal with it? If you are unwilling to take the initiative, I will assign it to you, the general." Zhang Gu said displeasedly. Morale was low and the generals were so negative, which really made him feel angry.
"..." The generals are still unwilling to come forward, and they will be assigned as assigned. Whoever is assigned will be unlucky. There are dozens of generals, and he may not be the unlucky one.
"Okay, if that's the case, then the general will assign it." Zhang Gu said angrily.
"General Zhang, force is not sweet. Since none of the brothers here are willing to go, General Zhang is willing to lead his troops to assist the scout battalion in spying on the enemy." A general stood up suddenly and said with a loud voice.
Zhang Gu was overjoyed. He knew that the general was a state soldier general named Liu Chengwu who was recruited from the former Jiangbei Prefecture. These foreign generals have little status in the army. Most of the important generals in the army have followed Zhang Wenbiao until now, so these people form a group in the army. Other generals transferred from outside seem out of place and are often looked down upon.
Zhang Gu currently has only three foreign generals under his command, one is Liu Chengwu and the other is named Zhang Yaoxian. These two were the court generals who were stationed in Chuzhou and Haizhou respectively. Because they were both generals who could lead troops, That's why he was able to obtain the position of a mid-level general in the army.
The two men each led 5,000 troops in the front camp, and their performance was quite satisfactory. Another foreign general named Li Zhong, who was only known to be a scholar who had just defected to the imperial court, was inexplicably sent to lead the army and was also his deputy. This was something Zhang Gu was extremely dissatisfied with. Fortunately, Li Zhong was also sensible. He claimed that he could not lead the army, so he asked to be responsible for the chores of logistics, dispatching and supplies, but he was able to do it.
"Okay! General Liu still knows the overall situation. Hahaha, you can choose some soldiers and horses to help General Fang's scout battalion to detect the enemy's situation. If this matter is done well, the Japanese general will ask the king for credit tomorrow." Zhang Gu said happily. .
"Thank you, general! I will definitely complete the mission!" Liu Chengwu said with cupped hands.
All the generals secretly sneered, thinking in their hearts, you damn want to be a hero and perform meritorious service, I am afraid that you are destined to perform meritorious service, but not to suffer. You guys who were transferred from outside all like to be in the limelight. You can do whatever you like, and I won't be grateful to you.
Liu Chengwu and Fang Heng turned around and walked out of the tent. When they reached Zhang Yaoxian, Liu Chengwu glanced at him. Zhang Yaoxian nodded slightly with an expressionless expression. Liu Chengwu smiled and walked out quickly.
