On the seventh day of November in the eleventh year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, Gao Qiqian invited Chen Xinjia and Lu Xiangsheng, and together with the generals of the various towns, they made an agreement in Baoding City to divide their forces to attack the more than 6,000 Haoge troops in Gaoyang County.
Along the way, Lu Xiangsheng's army announced that the army would march directly to Gaoyang; all the way, the high-altitude Liaodong Army's lurking army marched toward Anzhou first, waiting for an opportunity to turn into Gaoyang, and jointly attacked Hauge; all the way, Chen Xinjia's army announced the army, and marched to Zhang Deng to inspect Sinan, supporting Lu Xiangsheng and High rise, dive and attack Hauge.
Finally, it was agreed that the various armies would attack according to the established routes around November 9th.
Due to the arrival of Gao Qiqian, Baoding Prefecture and Xinyuan County worked together to move some grain and grass from the official treasury, and some grain, grass and livestock raised from the gentry were sent to Gao Qiqian's army on the seventh day of the lunar month.
Lu Xiangsheng's part received 300 shi of grain and 20 pigs. Although the number was not large, it also alleviated Lu Xiangsheng's shortage of food. He immediately ordered all the battalions under his command to eat well for one day on the eighth day of the lunar month and rest for one night.
The army broke out of camp at Mao hour on the ninth day of November, and moved the entire army to Gaoyang County to fight with the captives and cavalry.
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At this time, in Qingyuan County, Baoding Prefecture, a mighty column of people and horses was marching. Most of them were cavalry, approximately more than 20,000 people.
It was deployed in a marching array again, and the sea of red armor and flags seemed to have no end in sight.
According to the tradition of the Ming Dynasty, they were divided into four marching arrays: forward, middle, middle and rear.
Among the group of people, Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen, and his Chinese army general Guo Yingxian led their troops and horses. They walked at the front as the vanguard, and they also held a marching banner with the word "Former Army Commander".
Then behind them were Lu Xiangsheng's Supervisor Biao Battalion led by guerrilla Chen An, Xuanfu's right-wing battalion's infantry of more than 2,000 horses by Xuanfu's counselor Zhang Yan, and Shanxi's counselor Jiang Mingwu's more than 2,000 horse infantry. Together they formed the central army.
Behind them is the main barracks of Wang Pu, the chief military officer of Datong Town, which is the middle part. Finally, the main barracks of Hu Dawei, the chief military officer of Shanxi Town, is the back line.
There was less than a mile between the troops and horses in each route. They all marched steadily in a queue of several horses, with various flags following each other, advancing towards Gaoyang County in an orderly manner.
Yesterday, the army had a full meal at the foot of Baoding City. The sergeants who had not seen oil or water for many days also drank broth. Their physical strength was restored and their morale was significantly improved.
At Mao hour today, the army simply had breakfast and set up camp. At Chen hour, they crossed Qingshui River and Tang River successively and entered Gaoyang County along the official road.
The army's baggage was concentrated in Wang Pu's army in the middle, so that each unit could march lightly and speed up. The tiger crouching artillery, Fran machine and other artillery in each camp, military tents, horses and other items, as well as the small stocks of grain and grass, were all sent separately. People followed Wang Pu's army to escort him.
In this era, if there is no baggage, it is normal for infantry to march about sixty miles a day, and cavalry to march hundreds of miles a day.
However, because they did not know the current specific location of Hauge's Qing army, the army still marched steadily and did not move quickly. In order to be ready to engage with the captive cavalry at any time, the entire army was covered with armor, which also seriously affected the speed of its march.
Zhang Cheng rode his horse and marched among the military columns. As soon as he entered Gaoyang County, the atmosphere seemed to be a little tense. He encountered more and more captive cavalry sentries. Zhang Cheng also sent a sentry cavalry to strengthen the sentries on the flanks.
Lu Xiangsheng rode on his Wumingji in high spirits, looking at the military formation marching in front of him with approval. The sergeants were neatly arrayed, not inferior to his supervising battalion. He couldn't help but sigh, Zhang Yanguo is a general. Talent, only in this way can he cultivate a military leader like Zhang Cheng.
Looking at Zhang Cheng's cavalry array further ahead, it can be said that all of them are good soldiers. They followed Zhang Cheng's guerrilla flag, ten people in a row, riding horses and marching in order. They came out from Baoding City. The queue is always so neat and orderly. Even if there are cavalry sent out to look out, the movement and movement are still in order.
Lu Xiang promoted his strategy to Wuming Ji. He was so impressed that he fell in love with Zhang Cheng more and more. He even planned in his heart that when the Qing troops retreated, he would try to support Zhang Cheng, even though he was still young and had no seniority in the army. It's not that strong, but after a few more years of experience and some military merit and prestige, it's still possible to be promoted to the rank of commander-in-chief of a town in his thirties.
Today's Ming Dynasty is in a troubled time. It is time to select talents who can be created, vigorously train and support them, so that they can give full play to their bravery and intelligence, and be loyal to the emperor and serve the country. Only then can we turn the crisis into safety and revive the Ming Dynasty. It is not impossible!
Although the army marched along the official road, it did not completely occupy the entire official road. There was still nearly one-third of the road that was left vacant to prepare for the transmission of military information or the mobilization of troops and horses in emergencies.
Suddenly, smoke and dust billowed in front of the official road. Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen, led a group of soldiers on horseback. More than a dozen of them rode along the official road and headed straight for Lu Xiangsheng's military formation.
Since the army entered Gaoyang County, not only the frequency of the captured soldiers encountered on the road has increased, but the number of captured soldiers appearing each time has also increased. Each time, the nearly 20,000-horse army is on strict alert. I was afraid that after the troopers sent out sentries, a large group of troopers would appear.
There was no way around it. At this time, the Qing army's captive cavalry still put too much psychological pressure on the officers and soldiers of Xuanda.
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After Yang Guozhu rushed into the military formation of Lu Xiangsheng's supervising Biao camp, Lu Xiangsheng's soldiers rode out in all directions, and all the generals from the three towns were summoned to Lu Xiangsheng's military formation to obey his orders.
It turned out that Yang Guozhu's forward camp sentry cavalry detected nearly 6,000 captive cavalry, who were attacking Gaoyang City. The flags seemed to be mainly Zhenglan Banner, with some Mongolian Eight Banners and Han Army flags mixed in.
These are consistent with what the intelligence said. The slave thief Prince Hauge personally led 6,000 captives and troops to Gaoyang.
Although their number is around six thousand, the number of real armored soldiers inside cannot exceed 4,000 at most. Considering that there are Mongolian Eight Banners and Han Army Banners, the real armored soldiers of Zhenglan Banner of the Qing Army will never exceed 2,000. number.
After Yang Guozhu received the report from the sentries, he left Guo Yingxian to take charge in front of the army. He personally visited Lu Xiangsheng to report the military situation. After receiving the report, Lu Xiangsheng immediately issued an order for the army to form formations and rest on the spot, waiting for military orders. At the same time, he summoned the generals to come to him. Obey orders before the army.
After receiving the order, Zhang Cheng rushed to the rear formation first. After meeting Zhang Yan, he rode with him into the Du Biao camp formation.
Hu Dawei, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi Town, was the last one to arrive. When he saw all the generals gathered, Lu Xiangsheng asked Yang Guozhu to tell Yang Guozhu the military report obtained by the sentry, and then said: "Although Dongnu has about six thousand people, he can fight. There are at most four thousand soldiers, and our army has more than 20,000 people. All generals should work together and kill the slaves bravely to repay the favor of the king and boost the morale of the army."
Wang Pu was wearing dazzling armor, and the crowd clasped their fists and said, "Please rest assured, Governor, we will work together and kill the slaves bravely."
Yang Guozhu and other generals all clasped their fists and shouted in unison: "Work together and kill the slaves bravely!"
For a time, all the generals raised their arms and shouted, their military morale was determined and their morale was uplifted.
Yes, 20,000 vs. 6,000. Everyone is full of confidence and excited. Everyone is thinking that when they fight against the cavalry, they can get a few more heads. They can’t all be called Zhang Cheng. The boy snatched it away.
At this moment, I suddenly heard the sound of sirens outside the military formation. A guard hurriedly rode into the military formation and reported to Lu Xiangsheng: "Reporting to the governor, several miles away to the east, a group of slaves and bandits were found. More than a thousand people are rushing towards my announced military formation."
The generals in front of the formation were startled.
