In an instant, the Jiangshan Army was overwhelmed by the tide, just like the Huangxi Town official army they faced.
Most of the people panicked and instinctively fled towards the other side of the official road, where there were woods, where they might be able to escape the pursuit, gain respite, regroup, and then return to launch a counterattack.
Unexpectedly, the forest was very shallow. It was only about a hundred steps into the woods. There was a swamp in front of them. Walking along the water, they desperately found that in front of them was a lake that was more than a hundred steps wide blocking their way.
Before they could finish complaining, three catapults suddenly appeared on the other side, throwing thunderbolts and stone bombs across the other side. Unable to stand still, everyone had no choice but to continue southward along the lake.
There were still a few people who were panicked but not too chaotic. They were relatively close to Yan Yan and other officers, so they immediately gathered together and began to organize resistance. However, hundreds more people rushed over from the direction of Meigang and attacked them from the side.
At this time, Yi Yi Tie rushed to Yan Yan in horror and shouted: "It's the army! General, leave quickly, we have fallen into a trap!"
Yan Yan was stunned for a moment, and then he noticed that someone coming from the direction of Meigang shouted: "Seize the leader of the rebel army and avenge the brothers of Huangxi!"
He didn't know that when Jiao Conghu came to Meigang, he brought all the rescued logging prisoners. These people were not only the instructors of the Meigang militia, but also many of them served as officers at all levels.
Hearing the shouts, Yan Yan really thought that these people were actually officers and soldiers. He was shocked and shouted: "An iron cover, everyone retreat south!" As soon as he finished speaking, a short spear passed by. He was so frightened that he turned his horse and ran away.
In fact, if Yan Yan could be calmer, rely on the hundreds of people around him to stand firm, and then find the fleeing troops, this battle may not be without a chance of winning. But he himself was so frightened that his mind was shaken and he fled the battlefield first, making the whole game uncontrollable.
Afterwards, some people said that Yan Yan had been fighting under the command of Yang Xing, so his ability to independently command the army and coordinate operations was lacking.
Of course, this was also hindsight. At the time, Yan Yan's decision was purely instinctive, and he had no room for thinking at all.
At this time, the entire valley was full of broken soldiers hurriedly running south. Liang Mingshan took a look at the village wall and immediately ran down to take out the horse he had just ridden from the stable.
Inspector Zhang saw this and hurriedly stepped forward to stop him and asked, "Where can I join the army?"
"I saw that the enemy was going south, so I was ready to catch up." Liang Mingshan replied.
"How can I join the army alone? It would be too dangerous to be surrounded by the rebel army! Just wait a moment, I will take two people with you!"
After saying this, Inspector Zhang called two local warriors who were born as hunters and brought out the horses. Liang Mingshan took this time to find a pair of men to carry him, and the four of them opened the door and rushed down the mountain.
When he met Jiao Conghu and several soldiers, he stopped him and asked where he was going. Liang Mingshan told him to pursue the enemy general, and Jiao Conghu ordered four of his own soldiers to accompany him for protection.
Liang Mingshan saw a kidnapped person being carried immediately behind him and asked, "Who is this?"
"Ha, he was said to be a deputy vanguard, but he was actually a man. I captured him in a few rounds."
Liang Mingshan pointed inside: "I just cut down a vanguard, and you caught another auxiliary, which makes a perfect pair." After saying that, the two of them laughed. Liang Mingshan picked up a spear and led several knights with him. Eight horses chased south.
At this time, Yu Meiguang, Hu Congxi, and Zhu Decheng were also leading their troops in pursuit southward. The valley was full of people, shouting for death and begging for mercy. It was impossible to tell where was the battlefield and where was the pure land.
It's even hard to tell who's running and who's chasing. Those who couldn't run sat down to rest. After taking a breath, they discovered that the other party's soldiers were sitting not far away and smiling at them.
Yan Yan saw that he was only one mile away from the exit of the valley. At this time, there were hundreds of people in front of him. Looking back, it seemed that there were not many pursuers behind him.
He slowed down the reins and let the horse trot to maintain its strength. Suddenly a thought came to his mind: "It seems that there are not many troops in the army, huh?"
"Why did the general say that?" one of the soldiers asked.
"If not, they send a group of soldiers to stop us at the mouth of the mountain. We are afraid that we will not be able to escape and ascend to heaven!"
"Then... maybe the encounter between the two armies was too sudden and they didn't have time?"
"Well, that's possible!" Yan Yan nodded.
While he was commenting relaxedly, he saw a large number of soldiers resting on the side of the road. Yan Yan ordered people: "Tell everyone to hurry up and regroup as soon as we get out of the mountain pass. I don't think the loss of men and horses is very serious. After cleaning up, 80% should be recovered." It can be taken back."
"The general is right, brothers were frightened by the thunder. After a good rest, we can go back and fight again, and then they will look good!" someone said flatteringly.
Yan Yan twitched his beard and thought deeply.
At this moment, there was a sudden shouting from the front. Yan Yan was surprised and asked why. A soldier ran forward to check, and soon came back, shouting: "General, hurry up, the army is the army!" At this time, Yan Yan also saw the red-edged official army battle flag, with a big one on it. The word "Zhu".
"Today is really unlucky. What should I do?" Yan Yan was confused about whether to advance or retreat.
It was the eight hundred people from Zhu Qi Town who came first. It turned out that the spy in the Military Intelligence Section came back to deliver a message, but was caught as a spy and brought to Tan Zhongxiao. By accident, he knew the enemy's movements.
"If the militia in Meigang can't stop it, that'll be bad!" Tan Zhongxiao couldn't help but rub his hands when he thought that his duty was to fight Dongxiang. The team couldn't stop at all and had no time to save Meigang.
At this time, Zhu Qizhen heard the news and ran over, saying that the sooner you go to Dongxiang, the better. Leave it to me here. After solving the problem, I will go after the main force.
Tan Zhongxiao thought about it, and Zhu's movement was slow, and the two battalions in regiment training needed to stop and wait for them from time to time. It would be better to let Zhu Qizhen go to Meigang, so that the speed of the other two battalions could be greatly improved.
He immediately agreed to the plan proposed by Zhu Qizhen. Therefore, Zhu Qizhen rushed to the battlefield in advance, and Inspector Mei, who was delivering the message, had just crossed the mountain and had not yet caught up with the main column that was marching in the distance!
In any case, the arrival of the officers and soldiers is bad news. The defeated troops who had reached the mountain pass were unable to resist and surrendered in large numbers. Zhu Qi Town was progressing smoothly.
Yan Yan was frightened when he saw it, and quickly led people back, planning to go up the mountain and into the woods to avoid the limelight.
At this moment, I remembered the sound of hoofbeats from the front, and saw seven or eight horses coming through the dust. Seeing that something was wrong, the soldiers hurriedly tried to pull him off his horse and escape.
Yan Yan himself calmed down, broke away and shouted: "I'm already in front of you, how can I still escape?"
After speaking, he drew an arrow and shot it in the direction of the cavalry. When he stretched out his hand and drew out the second arrow, the horse in front had already approached, and Yan Yan fell down as soon as the bowstring rang.
All the soldiers were about to step forward to snatch people away, but were dashed away by the horses behind them. In the blink of an eye, they all fell into a pool of blood.
Liang Mingshan walked back some twenty steps along the official road with a gloomy expression, looking down at the ground. Inspector Zhang fell on his back in the grass by the roadside. An arrow penetrated his throat. Blood flowed from his mouth and dyed the hair on the back of his head red.
"Alas!" Liang Mingshan sighed heavily and watched as the two villagers from the police station who followed him stepped forward to collect the body, then turned around and headed towards the direction where Yan Yan fell.
At this time, Yan Yan was still twitching and struggling, and even tried to turn over his body and crawl away. Liang Mingshan stepped forward and thrust out the spear with all his strength. The spearhead sank into the opponent's leather armor and penetrated deeply into the ribs and lungs.
When he withdrew the spear, Yan Yan trembled violently and finally stopped moving.
Liang Mingshan wiped the blood from the spearhead on his trouser leg and ordered: "Cut off the head and place it in front of the tomb of the heroes." Then he stopped looking at Yan Yan and went to contact the officer in charge of the army.
Zhu Qizhen was in high spirits, and he was once again engaged in a real battle. And this time the harvest was not small, which made him very proud. When he heard that a militia leader was looking for him, he turned around on his horse and asked loudly: "Who is looking for me?"
"My Excellency, I joined the Meigang Militia Brigade and was a military examination student in Liang Mingshan. I have met thousands of adults."
Although he was from the fifth rank of the Qianhu Examination, he was still surprised when he heard that the other party was a martial arts scholar. Zhu Qizhen quickly dismounted from his saddle and met Liang Mingshan arm in arm.
After asking about the before and after of this battle, Zhu Qizhen admired the boldness of Liang Canjun. So he asked the Meigang militia to send a squadron to follow him to Dongxiang, while the rest stayed to deal with the aftermath, and decided where to go according to the orders of the Tan Brigade.
Zhu Qizhen took the troops to rest for a while and then hurriedly pursued Tan Brigade, accompanied by Yu Meiguang Squadron.
By this time, it was getting dark. A messenger from Zhao Chongbi came back and asked him how the war was going. He also told him that the Chinese military camp was located in Liyuan and that the forward of the Tan Brigade was approaching Longgang.
"Longgang?" Zhu Qizhen looked at the map of Dongxiang that Tan Brigade was giving him in surprise: "Does he want to attack overnight?"
The official army marched thirty miles in one day, which is considered a relatively fast speed. The two regiment training battalions, all composed of mules and horses, actually ran sixty miles, twice as much as the official army! ap.
At that time, it seemed that the infantry was marching at such a speed that it could be described as "fast as lightning". It was almost catching up with the cavalry, so he couldn't help but be surprised.
But he guessed one thing, Tan Zhongxiao did plan to attack overnight.
Longgang is only six or seven miles away from the north gate of Dongxiang. It is said to be a hillock, but it is actually a series of hills. Behind it is Yuling. The first batch of recruits recruited after Dongxiang was occupied came from the miners of the copper and lime mines on this ridge.
Longgang Village itself is small, with only forty households, but it once prospered as the only way to enter the city from the mines. There are three inns in the village. The "Li's Inn" facing the official road is now guarded by many guards, and it is tightly surrounded by the bright and dark sentries of Tan Zhongxiao.
The first and second battalions are in the mine behind, and the mine owners and remaining miners have been controlled.
The owner of this copper mine lived in Guantang Village. He was imprisoned by the Jiangshan Army for twenty days and was later redeemed with three thousand taels, so he hated these yellow-skinned guys to the core.
I heard that the Qingshan team could invest in the company in the future and help him resume mining at the mine, and also cover the purchase of ore and copper ingots. The mine owner, who had been sighing and thinking that the only option was to sell the mine, suddenly lit up.
He got a general understanding of the situation of Yu Gan and Anren Investment Committee from the town governor, then turned around and helped convince the owners of the lime mine, and also took the initiative to find a guide for the Qingshan team who was familiar with Dongxiang's situation.
Of course, Tan Zhongxiao would not just rely on his guide. This "Li's Store" itself was an intelligence point placed by Shen Jie around Dongxiang. The boss, shopkeeper, accountant and waiters were all played by people from the Qingshirt Team.
They will help Tanzhong Xiao seize the city tonight! The clerk in the store went out and called in the members of the intelligence department and reconnaissance department that were hidden around him. These people will play an important role in tonight's operation!
Tan Zhongxiao was extremely happy after receiving the news of Dong Jialong's victory. He slapped the table with his hand and said loudly: "Hey, now we are more confident in defeating Dongxiang!"
"What, Lu Zheng is determined to score twice tonight?" Wan Siyou winked at everyone with a smile, and everyone burst into laughter.
"You brat, you don't learn from others!" Tan Zhongxiao liked to joke with everyone, so he didn't care. He pointed at Liang Zheng and said, "Stay away from this guy, he is a black pig!"
"It's a bit dark, but it's inappropriate for you to call someone a pig, right?"
Liang Zheng saw that Wan Si didn't understand, so he kicked him and said, "Idiot, he means 'the one who is close to black is black!"
"Originally, I was worried that the enemy was twice as big as me, but now we are all good to each other." Tan Zhongxiao snorted and walked to the map, looked at it for a while and nodded: "Then the staff's plan is very good, let's do it Let’s do it this way!”
According to the wishes of the staff, the first and second battalions entered from the north wall, and the third battalion entered from the northeast corner and opened the east gate, closing and surrounding the county government office from three directions.
Originally, there were ambushes on all sides of the city, but now Zhu Qizhen and Jiao Conghu definitely couldn't make it, so they had to take advantage of the fact that there were Hao in the south of the city and Shuibo and Tangze in the west of the city. They let these two directions go and concentrated their troops on the city wall. The weakest areas are the east and north.
The time for the general attack is set at Chou hour!
It was said to be ugly, but in fact, the troops serving as "Sharp Swordsmen (Li Danqi's title)" had already set off just after Zishi. From then on, groups of troops moved quietly every other tea break.
Under the guidance of roadside guides, keep an eye on the white cloth band on your left arm and set off to your designated location.
Due to good food and adequate nutrition, most people do not suffer from night blindness. Those who have night blindness have to stay in frustration and join the reserve team to set off again when the sky gets brighter.
"tip
"Knife" was led by three reconnaissance platoons, and the northeast corner of the road also included a detachment from the Military Intelligence Section. The task of the sharp knives is to occupy the city head where the breakthrough is located and guide the assault companies of each battalion to enter.
The unfinished north wall is not a big problem, the trouble is mainly in the northeast corner. Because there was originally a collapse gap caused by rain erosion, and the height was only more than four feet.
However, for some reason, the Jiangshan Army suddenly blocked it with large rocks a few days ago, and now the height has reached seven feet! This is not a difficult task, but it must be handled carefully to prevent the enemy from prematurely discovering the movement of ascending the city.
The defense on the city wall is really not very good. There are a few tents and sheds set up on the rounded city platform in the southeast corner. There are more than ten or twenty soldiers guarding them. From time to time, people are sent to the north and east walls. Conduct inspections in one trip.
But most people felt sleepy after the boring jokes and went to bed, leaving only two unlucky ones guarding the campfire.
It all begins when you enter ugliness. The members of the Military Intelligence Section took the lead, followed by the scouts, who headed towards the city wall. They used vegetation and shadow protection to approach the city's roots.
A scout came forward to observe the filled gap. The stones were simply discarded, not laid.
With the help of his teammates, he climbed up to the top of the city and found that the stones were piled less than three feet thick. He judged that this was a temporary filling to facilitate patrolling, so he whispered the situation to his teammates below and asked them to immediately report it back to the brigade headquarters. Then from here, one sharp knife team member after another went to the city and quickly organized security in the south and north directions.
