The next day, at the second quarter of Yin hour, although the sun had not yet emerged, it was already bright.
In the summer morning, the temperature is extremely hot and muggy, making people feel like they are in a steamer.
At this time, the Donglai Army had finished eating and had assembled on the east bank of Zishui Ferry.
The Donglai Army of more than 40,000 people took the pontoon bridge at the ferry as its midpoint and extended to both sides along the Zishui River, with a length of nearly two miles from north to south.
According to the predetermined sequence, Liu Bogen and Wang Mi led the Donglai Army as the vanguard and took the lead in crossing the river.
Just before that, the Donglai Army had just left camp and started to organize their queues on the east bank of Zi River. The Jin Army scouts who were on guard on the other side discovered the actions of the Donglai Army and immediately sent troops to the rear to the Gaomi King Sima Luo of the Chinese Army. Made a report.
Sima Lue immediately took Liu Tun and other generals to personally check the movements of the Donglai Army. When they arrived at the west bank of the Zi River, they found that the Donglai Army had completed its formation and began to cross the Zi River through the pontoon bridge.
Sima Lue smiled softly and said: "Liu Bogen's villain's plan. In the letter of war he replied to Gu yesterday, he said that he would cross the river at midnight. I had long expected that he would be cheating, and sure enough, it was not yet nine o'clock. Crossed the river secretly."
After Sima Luo finished speaking, the generals around him began to flatter him, expressing their admiration for His Highness King Gaomi's miraculous calculations.
"Your Majesty, our army has also finished its meal and can form a formation to attack." The leading general Liu Tun said.
Yesterday, after Sima Lue and Liu Tun saw Liu Bogen's reply, they concluded that Liu Bogen would not honestly start crossing the river at Chenshi as stated in the letter. They will definitely start crossing the river in advance, and try to allow most of the rebels from the east to cross the Zi River before the Jin army launches an attack.
Both sides of the Zi River are endless plains. Sima Lue, Liu Tun and other generals riding on their horses can clearly see the Donglai Army on the other side.
"The banners of the bandit army are neatly arranged, and they seem to be somewhat organized." Liu Tun took a quick glance and continued: "It seems that the bandit army has at least 40,000 people, which is much more than the 30,000 we previously estimated."
"It doesn't matter, our army is at ease waiting for work, and we have a good location. We will attack as soon as the bandits are halfway across the river, and victory will be easy." Sima Lue didn't care whether the bandits in Donglai were thirty thousand or forty thousand.
He has received information that the Donglai Army's armored soldiers number at most more than 10,000, and he has gathered soldiers and horses from the five counties of Qingzhou, and opened the Linzi arsenal to equip soldiers. Now there are 30,000 armored soldiers, and another levy. There are 20,000 auxiliary soldiers and civilians.
Although there is not much difference in the total number of the two sides, the number of truly capable soldiers is three times that of the Donglai rebels, so Sima Luo feels that today's battle will be won without a doubt.
"Your Highness, the vanguard of the thieves crossed the river very quickly. Our army should quickly move out of camp to meet them." Liu Tun saw that the vanguard of the Donglai Army had crossed hundreds of people in a short period of time, and there were quite a few people after crossing the river. Rules and regulations.
"Yes. Order all the troops to take their positions according to the predetermined formation. When the thieves are halfway across, listen to the drums of the central army and order the whole army to attack."
Sima Lue, Liu Tun and other generals had also planned for a long time before and arranged their own formation positions for the generals in advance. As long as Sima Lue gave the order, the entire army could advance. The 50,000-strong army would be like a hammer. In the same way, the Donglai Army was beaten to death on the shore of Zishui River.
Several generals around Sima Luo quickly returned to their own camp to carry out the orders of the general. The army of more than 50,000 people quickly took action. According to the previous formation requirements, dozens of troops were listed facing Zishui. A phalanx of thousands of people.
When Liu Yu was on the east bank of Zi River, he saw a group of cavalry on the other side observing the Donglai Army. Seeing the bright armor of these cavalry from a distance, he guessed that it must be a general of the Jin Army who was on the front line to observe the military situation. Sima Luo, the king of Gaomi, was among this group of people.
Soon all the 10,000 elite soldiers led by Liu Bogen and Wang Mi crossed the river. Liu Yu followed closely behind and led his own 1,000 armored soldiers to defend the ferry. They also began to cross the Zi River on the pontoon bridge.
When Liu Yu arrived at the west bank of Zishui River through the pontoon bridge, he saw from a distance that more than a mile away, the Qingzhou Jin army had already formed a formation, with flags flying, and the formation was neat. It seemed that it had unshakable momentum.
"The bandits seem to be well organized, I'm afraid they won't be easy to deal with."
Dong Ping led Liu Yu's war horses over, and he also saw the neat formation of the Jin army in Qingzhou.
"Sima Luo has been waiting for such a long time. He must have practiced it countless times."
Liu Yu felt that these Jin generals led by Sima Lue had waited under Linzi City for such a long time. They would definitely not have been squatting in the camp and playing hide-and-seek. This prefabricated formation must have been rehearsed countless times.
At this time, Liu Tun, the leading general of the Jin army, had also seen that about 10,000 Donglai troops had crossed the Zi River. After reporting to Sima Lue, the king of Gaomi, he began to order the drums to be beaten and march toward the east. The Lai army approaches.
He predicted that when the two armies fought together, half of the Donglai Army would still not have crossed the Zi River, and the Donglai Army that had already crossed the Zi River would form a formation with their backs to the water, and would face several battles on each front. times the Qingzhou Jin Army soldiers, so that a perfect "half-crossing attack" can be achieved.
Just as the Qingzhou Jin Army began to advance eastward, the 10,000 elite troops led by Liu Bogen and Wang Mi had also completed their formation and began to move toward the north, the left wing of the Jin Army.
As the Jin army advanced, Liu Yu found that the Jin army's formation gradually became less orderly as it moved. In some places, the formation was even disjointed or crowded and chaotic due to the terrain.
Liu Yu couldn't help but feel a little lucky. It seemed that the level of these Qingzhou soldiers was still very poor.
Sima Lue and Liu Tun, as generals, were in the center of the army. Liu Tun discovered the 10,000 Donglai troops moving to the north at the beginning. At first, he thought that this was the Donglai thieves who were about to form a formation to prepare for the subsequent army to cross the river. Arrays provide space and cover.
But soon, Liu Tun realized that he might have guessed wrong. He discovered that the ten thousand Donglai thieves continued to move rapidly to the north, and seemed to be rushing towards the left wing of his formation.
Liu Tun was secretly surprised. Are these thieves crazy? They did not arrange defenses at the ferry to meet the follow-up troops. Now that they have left the formation, do they want to attack 50,000 of their own with 10,000 people, and are they not afraid that these 10,000 people will hit the stone with an egg?
And even if the 10,000 Donglai army had an impact on the Qingzhou Jin army, the Jin army could mobilize its center and right wing to launch a thunderous attack, destroy the two or three thousand people defending the ferry, and then seize the ferry and destroy the pontoon bridge. The Donglai army on the east bank can only stare and be unable to get through. When the time comes, the Jin army will turn to the center and right wing to support the Jin army on the left. With 50,000 to 10,000, they can easily eat these 10,000 thieves.
"Humph, you're a thief who doesn't know how high the sky is." Liu Tun cursed in a low voice.
At this time, the Jin army had moved forward for a long distance. Liu Tun asked the messengers to beat drums and wave flags, ordering the entire army to take a final break before attacking.
At this time, the sun had already emerged from the horizon, reflecting the morning glow in half of the sky.
