On the night of April 7, the second year of Chengshun in the Great Chu Empire, a small hill in the northeast of Yiyang City, near Dongting Lake, was brightly lit.
The lights composed of these torches, one inside and one outside, formed two very obvious circles.
Inside are many torch lights surrounding the low hills. In the lights, temporary parapets, trenches, forts and other defenses can be seen. Occasionally, shadows of people can be seen shaking.
This is the defensive position of the New Standard Army Left Army!
There were also a large number of torches lit a few hundred meters away from the outside of the New Standard Army. There were also a large number of trenches and small forts with sandy breast walls.
This outer fortification is an encirclement line built by the Chu army from afar.
In the mountaintop headquarters at the rear, Luo Zhixue, dressed in military uniform, gathered with a group of generals wearing general stars.
In the middle of them is a makeshift sand table. Under the candlelight, the small flags representing the enemy and ourselves are clearly visible on these sand tables.
Chief of Staff Xu Zhixian was holding a baton and explaining to the sand table: "After an afternoon of intense construction, we have purchased a blockade around the low mountain where the puppet Ming army is guarding. The entire blockade consists of three sides. They are south, west, and north respectively, and the east side is close to Dongting Lake, and we have not built a blockade."
Blind Wang on the side said in a low voice: "It's still the same old trick of surrounding three people and one person, but on the other side of the gap is Dongting Lake. I am so hypocritical and not stupid, how could I run into the lake..."
Han Ziping on the side listened and said in a low voice: "Brother Wang, you are talking about normal people. When the fight actually starts, the remaining pseudo-Ming army will face a large number of casualties, let alone Dongting. If there is a lake, even if it is the sea, they will run to the east. They can only run for a while!"
Xu Zhixian ignored the murmurs of these generals and continued: "Currently, the 17th Infantry Regiment and the 18th Infantry Regiment under the Fifth Division are stationed in the south and west, and the 20th Infantry Regiment and the baggage regiment of the division are deployed. To the southwest, it serves as a strategic reserve."
The Fifth Division has a total of four infantry regiments. The 19th Infantry Regiment is not on the front line, but is garrisoned in a village about three kilometers behind. It is mainly to guard against possible Ming army forces appearing on the southern front such as Yiyang City. At the same time Three kilometers is not too far, and they can be mobilized at any time to participate in frontline battles when necessary.
"The First Guards Regiment of our Guards Division is deployed in the north, and the other three infantry regiments and baggage regiments of the other Guards Division are deployed further back."
"The artillery units have been fully prepared and will be stationed at the predetermined artillery positions tonight. Some 18-pound mortar units have been deployed close to the infantry units."
"Considering that the opponent also has more than ten field artillery pieces and possesses certain long-range anti-personnel firepower, we have adopted a more cautious attitude in deploying artillery this time. The planned deployment position of the field artillery will not be too close, about five hundred meters. To about six hundred meters.”
"For mortar artillery, they should be deployed at a distance of about 300 to 400 meters from the enemy's first line of defense through the cover of trenches, some low hills, and ditches, and on the prepared mobile road."
"After we launch our attack tomorrow, our mortar firepower will be able to effectively cover the enemy's first line of defense and part of the second line of defense, and the field artillery unit will also be able to effectively cover the enemy's first two lines of defense, and when necessary time, covering and squeezing out the enemy troops in depth across extreme distances."
"Based on our reconnaissance of the nearby terrain and enemy troop deployment, the combat plan drawn up by our general staff tentatively takes the northern line as the main breakthrough direction. The terrain here is flatter, which is conducive to our rapid leveling up and the effectiveness of the artillery bombardment. It will be better.”
"Tomorrow's battle, the Guards Division will serve as the main offensive force and launch an attack from the northern front."
When Xu Zhixian said this, Luo Zhixue looked up at several officers of the Guards Division, and finally set his sights on Major General Li Dongshao, the commander of the Guards Division: "The Guards Division will be in charge tomorrow, how about it, are you confident? Are you so prepared in all aspects?"
Li Dongshao immediately straightened his back and said loudly: "The Guards Division is fully prepared and confident. Tomorrow's battle will be the time for our Guards Division to make great achievements."
Looking at Li Dongshao, Luo Zhixue nodded slightly!
He was still relieved about Li Dongshao.
This man is different from ordinary generals. He is a young man with ambition, courage, and brains.
When he attacked Xiangyang before, he dared to take the initiative and sneaked into Xiangyang with a group of guards. Finally, he opened the gate of Xiangyang City and successfully welcomed the army into the city. The Chu army almost took down Xiangyang City, the strongest city in the Central Plains, without any blood. .
Hundreds of years ago, Xiangyang City resisted the Mongolian and Yuan armies for several years, but under the sneak attack of the Chu army, it could not hold out for even an hour.
Among them, Li Dongshao played an important role.
After the Battle of Xiangyang, Li Dongshao successfully became the commander of the Guards Battalion at that time. Subsequently, the Guards Battalion gradually expanded and was changed to the Guards Brigade and the Guards Division. Li Dongshao also rose to the top, from the commander of the Guards Battalion to the Commander of the Guards Division, leading a major general. Military rank.
And this person's ability to rise all the way is not because of his early achievements, nor simply because of his seniority. After all, although these can allow him to rise to the top early, it is impossible for him to smoothly become the commander of the Guards Division with real power, and it is extremely important. s position.
The key thing is that because this person was a soldier, Luo Zhixue's personal orders were implemented in a real way without any compromise. He would do whatever Luo Zhixue asked him to do, and he followed the same foolish and loyal path as Huang Dingquan.
Regardless of whether he was deliberately showing a foolish and loyal attitude, or whether he was really being foolish and loyal, Luo Zhixue saw it and gave him positive feedback.
Well, Luo Zhixue is not a god, nor is he a roundworm in other people's stomachs. What Li Dongshao and other generals are thinking in their hearts, as long as they hide it well on the surface, he actually doesn't know...
However, as long as Li Dongshao showed such foolish loyalty and really did it, Luo Zhixue wouldn't care.
He can't control what others think, but he has to control what others do...
His foolish and loyal attitude, coupled with his early achievements, his seniority as a soldier, and his limited ability, ultimately led to him not falling behind in the continuous expansion of the soldiers' system. It was a smooth process and he became the commander of the Guards Division.
He became one of the most important division commanders in the Chu Empire.
However, these alone are not enough, and Li Dongshao is not satisfied with this.
He also knows that many people in the outside world actually say that he relied on Cong Long Zao, plus the blind cat ran into the dead mouse and pretended to take Xiangyang City within a while, and he acted like a fool and loyal every day. Only then did he become the commander of the Guards Division.
But in the final analysis, he actually does not have any outstanding military command talents, let alone any military exploits.
Because Li Dongshao had never seriously led troops to fight in a battle, especially a large-scale battle.
Although the Guards Division participated in many battles, the special nature of the Guards Division was that it always followed Luo Zhixue. When Luo Zhixue came to the battle line in person, the actions of the Guards Division were often directed by Luo Zhixue himself.
Strictly speaking, the two brigade commanders and four regiment commanders under the Guards Division have much more experience in leading troops in battles than Li Dongshao!
But this time, because Luo Zhixue personally brought two main divisions and a cavalry brigade, Luo Zhixue had to coordinate and command more than 20,000 troops. It was impossible to directly command certain units of the Guards Division directly through the staff as in the past. A group.
This also gave Li Dongshao an opportunity.
The opportunity to truly command the Guards Division in combat!
When the imperial military meeting ended, Li Dongshao did not rush back to the Guards Division immediately. Instead, he took several of his officers to find Xu Zhixian, the chief of staff, and held more detailed discussions for tomorrow's war.
Although Li Dongshao has ambitions to fight a good battle tomorrow, he wants to reverse his embarrassing image of being empty and real in the military through an undisputed victory.
But it is precisely because of this ambition that he will be more cautious and attentive.
If you lack the ability to command a large corps in combat, then you are not ashamed to ask Xu Zhixian.
Xu Zhixian, as the Chief of Staff of the Dachu Empire, although he himself has never held any positions such as regiment commander or division commander, he really talks about his experience in commanding large regiments in combat.
Looking at the entire Chu Empire, no one can compare with Xu Zhixian.
Because the general staff of the Chu Empire was itself a military order organization, it often formulated and directed major battles.
How to put it, if you ask Xu Zhixian to personally command a regiment, the effect may not be good, but if you ask Xu Zhixian to command tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of people in a large-scale battle, then he will be very capable.
Therefore, although Xu Zhixian's military rank is the same as that of Li Dongshao, Li Dongshao kept a relatively low profile in front of Xu Zhixian, which fully demonstrated what it means to be shameless.
Ask about the tactical arrangements for tomorrow, and how to make adjustments if there are problems with the execution of tactics tomorrow. In short, I have asked everything that needs to be asked.
Xu Zhixian was annoyed by his questions...
He interacts with senior generals in the army every day, but he has never met a senior general like Li Dongshao who would ask trivial things before a battle...
If tomorrow's battle was not really important, and the Guards Division was an active force, and if Li Dongshao's status was not strictly speaking inferior to him, he might have put on a bad face.
You have to ask no matter what. If you, the division commander, are of no use, I might as well just go down and command the Guards Division myself.
However, such words can only be imagined in his mind. In the end, he still has to be patient and answer...
When Xu Zhixian hinted for the fifth time that he still had a lot of things to do, please stop bothering me and get out of here, Li Dongshao finally heard Xu Zhixian's hint, and then said with a smile on his face: "Oh, this time I didn't pay attention, it's so late, I'm really sorry, I've bothered Brother Xu for so long, you're quite busy, so I won't bother you anymore..."
Looking at Li Dongshao's smiling face, Xu Zhixian didn't even know how this guy led a group of soldiers to directly seize the city gate to welcome the army into the city in the midst of a fierce fight.
When leaving the Chinese Army headquarters on the top of the mountain and returning to the frontline headquarters of the Guards Division, Li Dongshao looked back at the headquarters on the top of the mountain and murmured: "As long as we win tomorrow, our Guards Division will take this battle." Thanks, after understanding the battle in Chunan, I can be expected to become a lieutenant general. In comparison, I am not ashamed to ask why I am losing face."
