The news that the Xuanfu army entered Datong was sent to Liu Heng's desk by people from the Tiger Character Banner Foreign Intelligence Bureau.
"Master, do you want to do the same as last time, wait for the army to approach Lingqiu, then send people to poison the army and consume a batch of horses?" Yang Yuan said standing aside.
Liu Heng waved his hand and said: "The same method cannot be used a second time. The last time it succeeded was because Zhang Huai was unprepared. This time is different. Zhang Huai followed Yang Guozhu to Lingqiu and will definitely remind Yang Guozhu to take precautions in this regard. .”
"What a pity. It would be very beneficial to our Tiger Flag if we could consume a group of war horses from the army on the way." Yang Yuan said regretfully.
Liu Heng, who was sitting behind the table, smiled and said: "This time we are going to win a great victory on the frontal battlefield in a dignified way, inflicting severe pain on the officers and soldiers. We want to let the people in the court know that it is not so easy to destroy the Tiger Flag." easy."
"The imperial court sent a lot of soldiers and horses this time. Yang Guozhu brought two large camps with more than 10,000 people. Plus Zhang Huai's large camp, there were nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses. Our Tiger Flag in Lingqiu only has 10,000 people. There are many soldiers. Excluding the second battalion of soldiers stationed everywhere, the total number of soldiers that can be mobilized is less than 10,000. There is a big gap with the official army. Moreover, the subordinates have received news that the official army has brought the general this time. There are more than a dozen cannons, and there are even more squatting tiger cannons." Yang Yuan said worriedly.
The officers and soldiers marched all the way. The situation in the army had been figured out by the people from the Foreign Intelligence Bureau of Tiger Character Banner early on. In addition, these things were not secrets in the first place. The officers and soldiers had no intention of hiding them. Anyone with a little bit of care could find out about them. .
Liu Heng picked up the teapot on the table and took a sip of cold water. He smiled and said, "Do you think the army and the army are better than us in the artillery competition?"
Yang Yuan shook his head.
The guns of the Tiger Flag are all field guns such as four-pounders and six-pounders. Both in terms of range and power, they are far stronger than the general guns of the official army.
The gap between the gunners of the two sides is even greater. The gunners of the Tiger Ziqi are a technical branch specially trained by the Jiangwu Hall, while the gunners of the imperial court are all wild, and their skills are uneven. Even if there are a few gunners with high gunnery skills, But most of the gunners in the army could only fire the cannons, and they had no accuracy at all.
A qualified gunner must go through a long period of actual gunnery. The gunners of the Tiger Banner never lacked opportunities for gunnery training. As far as he knew, artillery soldiers in the official army rarely had the opportunity to gunnery. As long as they could fire A gun is a qualified gunner for the army.
Liu Heng turned to Zhao Wu who was standing aside and said, "Invite all the battalions left behind in Lingqiu to hold a combat meeting."
"Yes." Zhao Wu turned around and left the signing room.
Liu Heng picked up a folded piece of paper from the table, spread it out, and said to Yang Yuan: "Hang the map of Datong on the wall with me."
There is already a map on the wall, but this map is a map of the grassland.
Yang Yuan came over, picked up a corner of the map, and pasted the map on the wall with paste.
Fang Zheng's map occupies half of the wall. Counting the grassland map from before, one wall is occupied by two maps.
After more than half an hour, three battalions from the Zhan Barracks came to the signing room.
"Everyone, sit down." Liu Heng pressed his hand on the three people and motioned for them to sit down.
There were several long benches in the signing room, with two people sitting on one bench. Including Yang Yuan, four people sat on two benches.
"Master, do you have a mission?"
After several people sat down, Jia Liu was the first to speak.
The other two battalions sitting on the bench looked at Liu Heng expectantly.
Although they were not members of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau, such a big thing as Yang Guozhu sending an army to Datong could not be hidden from them.
Liu Heng said in a calm tone: "We have a big battle between Tiger Character Banner and the government army. Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, led a large battalion of soldiers and horses to Datong, and there was also a battalion of soldiers and horses brought by Zhang Huai. , now on the way to Lingqiu."
"I'm afraid there are nearly 20,000 people in the three battalions of the army!" Wang Lin of the fifth soldier battalion frowned slightly.
Jia Liu, who was sitting on the same bench with him, said: "If you are afraid, this opportunity to fight with the officers and soldiers will be given to our Second Soldier Battalion. Our Second Soldier Battalion is not afraid."
"Who says I'm afraid? Last time our Fifth Soldier Battalion didn't get the chance to kill the officers and soldiers. This time our Fifth Soldier Battalion must fight a beautiful victory." Wang Lin argued.
Shi Lei from the Sixth Soldier Battalion said, "The last time you, the Fifth Soldier Battalion, was given a chance to face the enemy head-on, you yourself didn't take advantage of it. You can't blame others."
"It's not that our Fifth Soldier Battalion didn't seize the opportunity. It's just that the officers and soldiers in Datong were too weak and didn't give us the Fifth Soldier Battalion a chance to take action." Wang Lin said with an unlucky look.
The last time Zhang Huai led his troops to attack, it was supposed to be their Fifth Fighter Battalion that would shine, but the last person to kill the enemy was the Sixth Fighter Battalion. For this reason, his battalion has been brooding.
Jia Liu, who was sitting on another bench, interjected: "Last time, it was your two combat battalions that went into battle. This time, it's our second combat battalion's turn to come forward to face the enemy."
As he spoke, he looked at Liu Heng.
Only the leader in front of him has the power to decide which battalion of soldiers will go into battle.
Liu Heng glanced around at the faces of the three battalions in front of him, and finally said: "This time, two battalions of soldiers will go out to fight, and the remaining one battalion will stay at various strategic locations."
The three battalions present raised their chests and looked up at Liu Heng with hopeful eyes.
Liu Heng smiled at the three of them and said, "Jia Liu, Wang Lin, this time your two soldiers' battalion will go out to meet the enemy. Shi Lei, your sixth soldier's battalion will stay behind."
"yes."
Jia Liu and Wang Lin agreed at the same time.
Especially Jia Liu, the joy on his face could not be concealed.
The first battle was with the Mongolian cavalry commanded by Su Nang, and the first and fourth warrior camps were sent. In the battle with Zhang Huai, the fifth and sixth warrior camps were sent. Now it was finally their turn to come forward to face the enemy.
Shi Lei, the commander of the Sixth Soldier Battalion who stayed behind, had a disappointed expression on his face.
But he knew that the boss had given an order, and he could only obey it.
Liu Heng held a slender wooden stick in his hand, pointed at the map on the wall, and said: "The armies of Yang Guozhu and Zhang Huai have set off from Datong, and they can reach Lingqiu in five days at most. In this battle, we will Decided to meet the enemy at this location."
As he spoke, one end of the wooden stick in his hand drew a circle on the map.
Several battalions sitting below were craning their necks to look at where the sticks were pointing.
Jia Liu suddenly said: "The master wants to stop the army at the junction of Lingqiu and Guangling?"
"That's right." Liu Heng nodded.
Wang Lin, who was sitting aside, said: "If my subordinates remember correctly, that area is a rare plain. There are many fertile fields around it. It can accommodate tens of thousands of troops without any problem."
Shi Lei on the other side nodded in agreement.
As the commanders of the war camp, several people know the terrain of Lingqiu and surrounding counties by heart.
