April 7, the second year of Chengshun in the Chu Empire.
About ten miles northwest of Yiyang City, a large number of Chu soldiers were advancing in numerous formations.
However, their march was much slower than before. At the same time, the formation was more compact. The distance between the internal and external troops was also relatively close. At the same time, there were a large number of scouts roaming around the periphery.
This is because not long ago, Luo Zhixue received a report from the forward reconnaissance cavalry, saying that traces of the Ming army's reconnaissance cavalry were found about ten miles ahead.
A small-scale fierce battle broke out between the scouts on both sides.
There were Ming army reconnaissance cavalry ahead, and there were quite a lot of them. This situation made Luo Zhixue and others immediately set their sights on Wuling.
To be precise, it is the new standard army left army stationed in Wulingli!
Because according to some information that the Chu army had learned before, in the area surrounding Yiyang City, there were only about three to four thousand defenders in Yiyang City.
There are not many Ming troops in other places. Even in Yuanjiang, north of Yiyang City, there are not many Ming troops. That place was abandoned by the Ming troops themselves. The nearly a thousand Ming troops originally stationed here have already withdrawn to Yiyang City.
Under such circumstances, there is only one possibility for the Ming army to appear in the northwest direction of Yiyang City, and that is the Ming army from Wuling City.
After realizing that there was a large number of Ming troops ahead, Luo Zhixue directly ordered the troops to shrink their formation and prepare for battle.
At the same time, he ordered the 1st Cavalry Brigade to go out to search and detect the enemy's movements. He also ordered Wang Xiazi to entangle the enemy after discovering the enemy if he did not have large-scale cavalry, waiting for the main force of his own infantry artillery to come up.
When encountering the enemy, sending cavalry forward to entangle the enemy and create favorable opportunities for our own slower-moving infantry and artillery is a routine that the Chu army has played many times.
So far, the results are good most of the time, especially when going south.
Because in the previous Chubei region and now the Chunan region, the local Ming army did not have large-scale elite cavalry at all.
The thousand-man elite cavalry led by Wang Xiazi can be said to be running rampant across Huguang, and it is difficult to encounter an equally matched cavalry opponent.
After Wang Xiazi led the army forward, all Luo Zhixue could do now was to continue to lead the army forward, while keeping the army on alert, and at the same time, waiting for feedback from the 1st Cavalry Brigade.
While Luo Zhixue was waiting for news at the rear, Wang Xiazi had already led the First Cavalry Brigade to move forward quickly, and soon encountered several waves of Ming army reconnaissance cavalry.
Seeing another wave of Ming army scouts approaching and then quickly leaving, Blind Wang had a hunch that they had just caught a big fish.
He could even call out the name of this big fish: New Standard Army Zuojun.
In the surrounding area, the only Ming army that could send multiple waves of reconnaissance cavalry, totaling dozens of cavalry, was the new standard army Zuojun in Wuling City.
"I didn't expect that they would march eastward in advance!" Wang Xiazi looked at the wilderness in front of him, and his smile gradually appeared: "If they hide in Wuling City, we will probably have a lot more trouble when fighting later, but since they are now If they take the initiative to move eastward, then don’t blame me, Old Wang, for not giving them face!”
"Send the order and tell the brothers to work harder. We will continue to move forward and must entangle them!"
"Also, I will have to charge on horseback later. Let brothers pay attention to the physical fitness of the war horse!"
As an old cavalryman, Wang Xiazi is naturally very aware of the importance of preserving the physical fitness of war horses before a battle.
Their First Cavalry Brigade is not a pair of three horses, it only has one horse and two horses.
In their cavalry brigade, in addition to a war horse, each cavalryman also has a relatively inferior auxiliary horse.
Normally, this spare horse carries the cavalry's weapons and equipment, and the rider leads the horse on foot.
Only when there is a battle, the cavalry will directly charge into battle on their horses.
As for marching on horseback, don't expect even one with two horses.
The cavalrymen of the First Cavalry Brigade did not know how to ride horses during daily marches. Only the luxurious cavalrymen who could ride three horses alone could allow the cavalry to march on horseback from time to time when marching.
Physical fitness is very important for a cavalry.
Even though Blind Wang is already very concerned about the physical condition of the war horse, at this critical moment, he still takes the trouble to emphasize the importance of maintaining the physical fitness of the war horse.
The First Cavalry Brigade continued to advance. About two-quarters of an hour later, Wang Xiazi finally saw the Ming army in front.
When he saw these Ming troops for the first time, Blind Wang didn't feel much at all.
But after taking a closer look, especially when he saw that there were more than a dozen field cannons in the ranks of these Ming troops, he was immediately stunned.
"Is this the new standard army? There are a lot of artillery!"
The field of vision was relatively wide, and Wang Xiazi climbed to the top of a hill to observe from a high position. At a glance, he saw more than ten artillery pieces lined up by the Ming army.
And these more than ten artillery pieces were deployed with their backs against a hillside, and their muzzles were facing their First Cavalry Brigade.
"Damn, it's a good thing I didn't give the order to rush out directly, otherwise I would have suffered heavy losses from being hit by their artillery!"
"No wonder they are called the New Standard Army. This is completely based on our main force!"
Blind Wang looked at the battle formations in front of them, and the Ming army's new standard in preparation for cavalry attacks. He couldn't help but sigh: "There are still capable people in the puppet Ming army!"
"Brothers, please pay attention, don't get close, and stay a thousand meters away!"
Blind Wang now no longer has the idea of taking the cavalry to rush over to get a vote. They have set up their formations and the artillery is set up. He will not lead his precious cavalry to die.
Anyway, his mission is not to attack and kill many enemy troops, but to find and hold off the enemy, which is enough to complete the mission.
And now the new standard-setting troops of the Ming army across from them are directly adopting a defensive posture, which is exactly what he wants.
As long as these Ming troops don't run away, Wang Xiazi's First Cavalry Brigade will not move either.
But if the Ming army wanted to run away, when they put away their artillery and changed their formation from a defensive formation to a marching formation, Wang Xiazi would not hesitate to order his cavalry to charge forward.
——
Wang Xiazi led thousands of cavalry, hanging thousands of meters away from the Ming army.
This made Yang Sixing quite disappointed!
"The Chu thieves cavalry were so cautious that they didn't charge over. Otherwise, we must let them see the power of my new standard army's thieves-killing cannon."
Yang Sixing thought many times about how to fight the Chu thieves.
In his expectation, if he encounters Chu thief cavalry in the wild, as long as his artillery can be deployed and the infantry can form formations, as many thief cavalry as they come will die.
But no matter what, this was the first time I encountered the Chu thief cavalry. The Chu thief cavalry on the opposite side didn't even charge forward...
Yang Sixing's idea was quite beautiful, but Blind Man Wang was not a fool. Although he had never been bombarded by field artillery, he had seen Ming cavalry being bombarded by his own artillery many times.
In the Battle of the Eastern Suburbs of Yuzhou, Zuo Liangyu's command of more than 500 elite cavalrymen who were no worse than the First Cavalry Brigade foolishly formed a dense charge formation and tried to rush over to destroy the artillery positions. As a result, they were defeated a few hundred meters away. The Chu army's artillery was severely damaged.
Other times it’s more.
These examples made Wang Xiazi fully aware that charging directly against the field artillery in a dense formation would be asking for death.
Even if they can win, it will be a miserable victory.
Blind Wang stood still, and Yang Sixing on the opposite side couldn't help but think about what the Chu thieves cavalry on the opposite side wanted to do if they didn't rush over or retreat.
When this question appeared in Yang Sixing's mind, he immediately had a dangerous idea: Do these Chu thieves and cavalry want to arrive as the main force of infantry artillery from the rear?
"There are thousands of Chu thieves cavalry. It is definitely impossible for such a large number of Chu thieves cavalry to be dispatched alone. There must be more main Chu thieves behind them, ranging from tens of thousands to tens of thousands."
"So, I have met the main force of Chu thieves?"
"Isn't the main force of the Chu thieves heading towards Changsha? Why did they turn around and head west to Yiyang City?"
Many thoughts suddenly appeared in Yang Sixing's mind, and the more he thought about it, the more frightened he became.
He has definitely met the main force of Chu thieves!
No, we can't wait any longer. Once the main force of the Chu thieves catch up, it is very likely that the more than 5,000 people will face the siege of tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of Chu thieves.
By then, even if their new left army is a new standard army with good equipment, good treatment, high morale, and new guns, it will probably be difficult for a good man to defeat him.
Yang Sixing made a quick judgment and ordered his troops to retreat to the northwest, towards Wuling.
He wanted to withdraw to Wuling City and rely on the walls of Wuling City to resist.
With the combat effectiveness and equipment level of the more than 5,000 new standard troops under his command, plus there are two to three thousand ordinary guard soldiers in Wuling City who can assist in defending the city.
Even if he faced an attack by the main force of 20,000 to 30,000 Chu thieves, he was confident that he could defend Wuling City.
However, when he just gave the order to retreat, the troops did not even have time to formally retreat. They were just gathering their formation and the artillery troops had to stop their retreat while they recovered the deployed artillery.
Because the Chu thief cavalry on the opposite side also started to move!
Seeing this scene, Yang Sixing still didn't know what the purpose of these cavalry was.
These cavalrymen were not here to conduct reconnaissance or act as vanguards. These cavalrymen were probably coming directly towards him, hoping to entangle him.
Once his army begins to retreat, I am afraid that the cavalry on the opposite side will directly charge.
And the 5,000 new standard troops who did not list the defensive cavalry formation and did not put out the artillery, faced the charge of thousands of cavalry, their performance would definitely not be any better than the 5,000 ordinary guard soldiers.
Faced with this situation, Yang Sixing pondered for a long time, and after observing the surrounding terrain, he finally turned towards a small hill about a few hundred meters away behind the army.
"Give the order, and alternately cover the retreat to the low hills on the side and rear to set up defenses. Don't move too fast. All units must cooperate well and don't give the thieves a chance."
"Send Feiqiqi to rush to Yiyang City and Wuling City and ask the defenders of the two cities to quickly reinforce our troops."
"Send a reliable person to Changsha quickly to report to Governor Yang, saying that our army has decided to lead the left army to defend the position in the eastern suburbs of Yiyang, so as to attract the main force of the rebel army to gather in Yiyang. I hope the Governor and your Excellencies will quickly gather reinforcements and go north to Yiyang. Cooperate with our department inside and outside, and attack from the north and the south."
"Once this is accomplished, at least more than ten thousand of the main force of the Chu thieves can be wiped out, and the critical situation in Chunan can be saved!"
…
After issuing a series of orders, Yang Sixing looked at the eager Chu bandit cavalry in front, and then looked at the wilderness in the southeast. He took a deep breath and said with a gloomy face: "I want to see how much you Chu bandits can defeat our left army. !”
