It was the early morning of July 17, the fourth year of Chengshun in the Chu Empire, and the eleventh year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty.
About 20 kilometers east and north of Wen'an City in Beizhili, Zhu Xingfa began to lead three cavalry brigades under his command to the northeast, where Zu Dashou's headquarters was located.
At the same time, about three or four kilometers away on its side and rear, the main force of the 10th Division was also marching quickly. In order to increase the marching speed, their infantry, artillery, and baggage troops were even somewhat out of touch.
More than ten kilometers away due north of where Zhu Xingfa was, there were more than 4,000 people from the 38th Reinforcement Regiment under the 10th Division, and their marching speed was even faster!
The 38th Reinforcement Regiment had already started preparing breakfast in the middle of the night. Before daybreak, the soldiers had already eaten and started on the road. Their march was extremely fast and was a typical emergency march.
In order to cover the detour of the 38th Reinforcement Regiment, Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa specially ordered his three cavalry brigades and the 10th Division: Build up the momentum, the bigger the better, and don't be afraid of being known by the Ming army's reconnaissance cavalry on the opposite side.
As a result, the Chu army's three cavalry brigades and the main force of the 10th Division moved towards Zu Dashou's headquarters with great momentum and without any concealment.
At the same time, Zhu Xingfa ordered his reconnaissance cavalry to expand the scope of blockade and interception,
While pretending to be impressive, they also strictly ordered the reconnaissance cavalry to block them. These were all to confuse the reconnaissance cavalry under Zu Dashou and further cover the actions of the 38th Reinforcement Regiment.
Even if it can only confuse the enemy for a moment, it is good.
Because the terrain in this area is flat and the field of vision is wide, it is actually difficult to conceal the opponent's reconnaissance cavalry in large-scale military operations, especially when one's own cavalry does not have an absolute advantage.
What Zhu Xingfa did was to further confuse the water!
By then, Zu Dashou knew that a large number of Chu troops were coming from the east, but it was still difficult to know and analyze the detailed movements of the Chu troops.
After all, the cavalry in the Chu army were not just for a living, and they would also expel and intercept the Ming army's reconnaissance cavalry.
It's possible for your Ming army's scout cavalry to take a look at the outside from a distance, but don't expect to be able to get closer and observe in detail at will.
Therefore, when the Chu army's cavalry troops first set off, although there were scouts who quickly reported to Zu Dashou, Zu Dashou was not clear about the details.
At about eight o'clock in the morning, a Ming army reconnaissance cavalry finally ventured closer and learned that there were at least 4,000 Chu army forwards heading west.
As soon as the news came back, one of the generals under his command showed caution: "The enemy's forward cavalry is only about four thousand, and they don't know that we are Guan Ning cavalry. If they dare to approach rashly, they must have someone to rely on behind them!"
Zu Dashou and the others went south, but they didn't hide the flags or anything like that, and they couldn't hide it... so they simply displayed all the flags openly. The Chu thieves' scouts could tell that this Ming army was coming from a distance. It was the Liaodong frontier army, or the direct force of his ancestor Dashou, with thousands of Guanning cavalry.
This generous display of flags is also intended to deter the enemy and prevent them from taking any rash action.
In order to avoid making the Chu thieves think they are soft persimmons, and then come over to pinch them...
But what they didn't expect was that they all displayed the banner of the Liaodong Frontier Army, and even Zu Dashou's general flag was displayed openly. The opponent did not retreat despite the difficulties, but continued to approach.
This is no longer simply about intercepting one's own southward attack.
Because since yesterday, Zu Dashou has not continued to move south. At the same time, the four thousand cavalry of the Chu army have already been intercepted. If we really want to intercept our southward movement, then it is enough to stick to the position more than ten miles away. If we really want to move, it is also You can wait for your side to continue the detour and then follow the detour. There is no need to run over now and stick it on the face of Zu Dashou's subordinate.
However, the Chu thief on the opposite side really did this.
At first, many Liaodong generals could not understand or even understand their actions.
Until Wu Xiang said something: "Could it be that they want to expel us directly so as not to affect their march north?"
After hearing this, Zu Dashou said: "It is possible that we will stay on their flanks. The Chu thieves will definitely not be at ease. If it were me, I would not ignore the threat of tens of thousands of enemy troops on the flanks." If we continue to go north to Tianjin, they may want to expel us from this area so that we can go north without worries!"
Wu Xiang said: "Then what should we do? Should we stay here or withdraw from this place temporarily?"
After Zu Dashou thought for a long time: "We can't stay here. If we stay here, once we are entangled by the Chu thieves' forward cavalry, we will be in trouble when the Chu thieves' infantry artillery comes up. They are followed by ten thousand people." It’s a multi-rifle gun.”
"Give me the order, pack up your belongings, and prepare to evacuate northward!"
In addition to these superficial reasons, Zu Dashou still did not want to lead his army to fight the Chu thieves, especially in such a large-scale battle.
Because no matter he wins or loses, he will suffer a big loss!
Once this kind of battle breaks out, there will definitely be heavy casualties. Even the four thousand Guan Ning cavalry under his command may be severely damaged by then.
Once there are too many casualties, no matter how long his ancestor lives, he will die.
Zu Dashou ordered to prepare to retreat, but not long after, someone came over in a panic and reported: "Sir, it's bad, a large number of Chu thieves were discovered in the north... in the north!"
North? Chu thief?
Zu Dashou had been fighting all his life. He knew something was wrong when he heard these two keywords. He immediately asked: "What's going on? Please tell me carefully!"
Immediately, the visitor continued: "The scout Pegasus who was patrolling in the northeast just now reported that a group of Chu bandits were discovered twelve miles away from the northeast. They are marching at high speed towards our due north!"
With the return of the visitors, if Zu Dashou still couldn't figure out what was going on, then he would have wasted his entire life's combat experience.
"Previously, I was wondering why these Chu thieves came here without incident. At first, I just thought that these Chu thieves wanted to drive us away so as not to affect their army's march north to Tianjin."
"But now it seems that these Chu thieves have a huge appetite..."
At this time, Zu Dashou didn't know that these Chu thieves were not here to expel him at all, but wanted to pounce on him and bite him hard.
Through various sources of information, especially the reports from the reconnaissance cavalry in the northeast, Zu Dashou was 90% sure of guessing the previous movements of the Dao Chu bandits.
They must have divided their troops in advance yesterday, and after dividing their troops, the partial divisions began to march quickly to perform roundabout maneuvers.
Moreover, the timing of the detour was also very clever. They did not get too close yesterday, but stopped and camped at least twenty miles away, because the Ming army's reconnaissance cavalry could not really run dozens of miles away. In addition, it is very good to be able to monitor the direction of about twenty miles around. If it is further away, it can only monitor some traffic arteries and important directions, such as the southeast, where there are the main cavalry of the Chu thieves, and this place Still official.
After stopping more than 20 miles away yesterday, this Chu bandit's roundabout force must have buried pots and cooked rice early this morning, and began to rush forward before dawn.
Under the high-speed attack, it only takes one or two hours to directly reach the position more than ten miles away behind one's own side.
There was a time difference here, and the opponent played very well.
If the other party had approached within ten miles yesterday, then our scouts would have known about it in advance, so that we would have had a whole night to make contingency plans, especially when we could reach the city and start running. road.
But yesterday, they did not get closer than ten miles away, but camped farther away. They waited until this morning to start running at full speed, leaving little time for their reaction.
An hour?
No, if you include the time for the reconnaissance knight to go back and forth, it would only be half an hour at most.
Zu Dashou was considered a man who had seen many strong winds and waves, so he immediately ordered: "Retreat to the west immediately!"
In this situation, there is no difference between staying where you are and waiting to die.
Even if they can stay in place for a while, the Chu thieves are not stupid. They will definitely send more infantry and artillery later. What awaits them then is the annihilation of their entire army.
It is not feasible to retreat to the north. The Chu thieves' roundabout division is just to the northeast of their own side, only about 12 to 30 miles away. Now that I am leading my troops to retreat north, I can just go up.
After a head-on collision, as long as the opponent blocks him for an hour or two, the Chu thieves' cavalry will quickly attack. If it takes another hour or two, a large number of enemy infantry and artillery will also attack.
It was still a miserable failure then!
As for going east and south, there is no need to think about this. If you go east, you will fall into a trap!
As for going south, Hong Chengchou would probably be very happy to hear it. He wished that Zu Dashou would lead his troops south and fight against the Chu bandit tribes along the way, attacking the logistics lines and so on. But Zu Dashou knew very well that he could escape for a while after going south. It can also bring great trouble to Chu thieves.
But the south side is like a swamp. It is easy to get in, but it is not easy to get out, and it will get deeper and deeper.
As long as his brain was not burned out, he would not lead his tens of thousands of troops directly into the southern hinterland controlled by Chu thieves.
The only escape route is to the west!
Therefore, Zu Dashou ordered the entire army to retreat to the west without hesitation.
Zu Dashou gave the order very simply, and the Liaodong frontier army under his command was worthy of being the elite who had been able to resist the Japanese invaders for many years in Liaodong. They also carried out Zu Dashou's orders resolutely, and they were put in order in a short time. property, and part of the vanguard troops immediately set off towards the west.
At the same time, troops were sent to the rear to prevent the rebels from pursuing them.
His decisiveness in escaping and resolute actions made Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa on the opposite side admire him greatly when he saw it.
"I have led troops to fight against the puppet Ming army for several years. I have fought countless puppet Ming troops, including guardsmen, young and strong soldiers, and new standard troops."
"But this is the first time I've seen someone who can run so fast!"
"But you can run away if you want, but you have to leave the rifle and artillery supplies with me first!"
