stubborn thief

Chapter 509
On June 22, the seventh year of Chongzhen, the beginning of autumn.

Within three days, more than [-] troops mobilized by Liu Chengzong from Wuwei Oasis arrived at Gulang Fort one after another. At one time, more than [-] troops gathered in Gulang. The narrow Gulang Mountain Pass was full of camps.

With the arrival of Zhang Tianlin and Wei Qian'er, two battalions with independent combat capabilities, more Tang soldiers joined the oppressive advance that covered the battlefield.

The Chinese army camp outside Gulang Fort.

A simple map of the frontline Tang soldiers compiled by the officers of the Huben Battalion was placed in front of Liu Chengzong.

The entire map draws a battlefield area twenty miles long from north to south and fifty miles wide from east to west. On this battlefield, there are 34 ridges and valleys running through the north and south, as well as a traffic artery from Gulangyi to Heisongyi. It is covered by pine forest, fir forest and birch forest.

Except for the Liutiao River in the northwest corner of the map, and the Huangyang River in the southeast corner, there is almost no terrain between the roads for battalion-level units to fight in battle. Even the widest traffic arteries are only two to three hundred steps wide. .

Such finely divided terrain determined that Liu Chengzong must consider team operations in the deployment of troops, and for team operations, Tangqi was the key to this battle.

"Ma Xiang, mobilize the troops of the various ministries to form a 24-way Tangqi Battalion, which is divided into east and west. The west road is spread along the Liutiao River and goes straight to Wushaoling in the south; Sichuan."

Hearing this order, Ma Xiang, the general manager of Tangqi Qian of the Chinese Army, felt troubled, and said: "Commander, we don't have so many Tang soldiers."

The establishment of Tang soldiers is five riders per pond, and 24 ponds form a road. Liu Chengzong opened his mouth and asked for 24 road soldiers. This huge establishment requires 880 people.

Ma Xiangxin said that he originally had [-] regiments of soldiers under his command, but after establishing three battalions in Ganzhou, he divided them into six regiments. Now there are only two battalions in Zhuanglanghe, that is to say, the whole army only needs [-] regiments of soldiers.

Even if you are the Generalissimo, you can't say that it is the 24th Tang Bing. Sun Monkey is here, and the Tang Bing can't be changed just by changing.

"I know, based on the soldiers of the Ten Routes of the Tang, the soldiers of the Three Divisions will be drawn from the Day Camp and the Chariot Camp, and each of the soldiers in the pond will be equipped with archers and firearms as much as possible."

The battalion is composed of battalions, departments, divisions, and bureaus. The corresponding officers are generals, generals, generals, and generals. Both match two people.

In fact, this troop strength, 15 people per pond, is similar to the basic establishment of pond soldiers in the south of the Ming Dynasty. The southern water network is densely covered, which is not conducive to pond riding, and more manpower is required for pond soldiers to dismount.

At this time, Liu Chengzong was facing a similar situation. The forest land in the mountains was also inconvenient to ride horses. Only by assigning more troops to the Tang soldiers could it be convenient to start work.

Squad combat itself is easy to cause confusion in the army organization, so for Liu Chengzong, it is necessary to deploy more pond soldiers on this battlefield, at least so that the repelled soldiers can easily find the pond soldiers, and then reassemble the whole team.

Liu Chengzong raised his hand and pointed towards the middle of the battle line on the map, followed the curved route to the south, and said: "Xianglin Temple, Heisong Station, Anyuan Fort, and Chakou Station, the main soldiers will advance layer by layer at these four strongholds. Soldiers should try their best to suppress the enemy's flanks and create conditions for our army to outflank on the big battlefield—several brothers."

"The end is here!"

Feng Ru and the others were listening intently, but suddenly seeing Liu Chengzong looking at them, they hurriedly stood up one by one.

Liu Chengzong pointed to the Gulang mountain pass and said: "Feng Ru's troops are stationed in Gulang, and the cavalry is responsible for patrolling fifty miles from east to west. The chariot camps are stationed at the mountain pass. Be sure to block the mountain passes and break out of the enemy army. If the main army fails to attack the fortifications, your department will serve as a reserve team."

"Yes!"

"Two big camps, one east and one west, you two choose."

Liu Chengzong looked at Wei Qian'er and Zhang Tianlin, pointed to the map and said: "There are many mountain roads on the east road, and you can walk on horseback. The way out of the mountain is Huangyangchuan, which can deploy troops. If the Ming army retreats, it will retreat from Huangyangchuan to the stone mountain in the east. Xiaguan, so the mission of the East Road is to reach Huangyangchuan within two days, that is, the night of the 24th, and cut off the retreat from the flank."

Then his hand continued to go south from Xianglin Temple on the middle road: "The main soldiers of the Central Army captured Xianglin Temple, and the east road needed to drive the enemy west from Huangyangchuan, forcing them to retreat to Heisongyi, and at the same time continue to advance south from the east road. Threatening the enemy flank."

"There are few mountain roads on the west road, and the distance is about forty miles. It is not easy to ride horses here, so the west road must arrive at Chakou Post on the morning of the 26th to cut off the enemy's retreat."

After that, he looked at Zhang Tianlin and Wei Qian'er, and said solemnly: "No matter which way, if you see the Ming army, you will smash them and smash them, and you must arrive at the predetermined position on time."

The difficulty of these two tasks is not small, mainly because it is difficult to cross the terrain, and the emergency march in a limited time will inevitably lead to accidental reductions in the number of troops in the process.

They want to encircle and wipe out the enemy army, which means that no matter which direction they are in, they may encounter twice or even three times the enemy's attack.

Wei Qian'er glanced at Zhang Tianlin, raised his hand slightly and said, "General Zhang chooses first."

"I'll go to the East Road." Zhang Tianlin chuckled: "The enemy army can spread out in Huangyangchuan, so it's easy for cavalry soldiers to rush and chase them down."

Wei Qian'er nodded and accepted the arrangement, and said: "I have a lot of pearl cannons in my hand, which can come in handy in mountain melee."

"The east and west routes will be left to you. As for the main army in the middle route, it will depend on Brother Ding and Brother Zhang's abilities."

Liu Chengzong said that Ding Guodong, a general of the Suzhou camp, and Zhang Zhen, a general of the Ganzhou camp, cupped their hands and said: "Two days, capture Xianglin Temple; Pull out the stronghold, and leave everything to me."

Ding Guodong and Beetail Needle clasped their fists together and said, "The last general takes orders!"

Following the determination of the missions of the ministries, Gulang Fort fired three cannons, and the mighty Tang cavalry team led the infantry westward along the Liutiao River, spreading out along the valleys and ridges.

Just half an hour later, under the banner of the Tang soldiers, along the Liutiao River Valley to the east to the East Road Mountain, the Tang soldiers lined up rushed towards the mountain road. In just a moment, there were everywhere on the winding mountain road. The gunfire flickered, and the forest in the mountains was filled with smoke.

Liu Chengzong was holding a binoculars on the Gulang Fort. The thick and dense forest made him unable to see the battle situation in the nearby mountains, but he knew very well in his heart that the soldiers of the two armies had fought each other.

It's just that Ding Shaoyin and Bai Guangen, who were guarding the mountain road, did not think that it was the Tang soldiers who fought against them after receiving the report from the front-line Tang soldiers about the outbreak of conflict-because the Ming army Tang soldiers believed that the marshal's army was launching in a scattered formation. total attack.

The Tangqi of the Marshal Army is not serious!

On the surface, it looks like there is only a lonely Tangqi in the middle of the road, holding a pennant spear in one hand and a three-eyed blunderbuss in the other, but in fact there are two people lurking in the woods beside the road.

The Ming Army Tang Qi hadn't rushed to the distance to release the three-eyed blunderbuss. He was startled by the sniper shot from the heavy blunderbuss in the forest on the left. He was paying attention to the left, and the sniper arrows were swishing in the forest on the right.

I couldn't see anyone at all, I could only hear the commotion in the woods, as if following a wild boar.

With this haunted posture, is it still oppressing the battlefield?Tang Qi of the Ming army hit his horse and left, turned his head and waved his spear, and called for reinforcements.

It was not easy for a pool of cavalry to get together. There are five of us here. We are not afraid of their cold shots in the woods.

This must be the main army launching an attack, who's Tangqi is carrying a large-caliber eagle gun and going out?
All the mountain roads and valley roads conveyed such information to Ding Shaoyin and Bai Guangen of Heisongyi, and the soldiers on each road said that they encountered the Marshal Army squad.

In the garrison office of Heisongyibao, Ding Shaoyin ordered his servants to fetch several maps, and asked them to draw pens on the maps to mark the enemy troops that appeared in each mountain road. After a short summary, all the seven surrounding mountain roads were attacked and suppressed. It took three or four miles to pass the information back.

Some said that they encountered dozens of enemy troops, while others said that they encountered hundreds of enemy troops, but no one could tell how many enemies there were. Even if it was calculated in half, the number of enemy troops at the forefront of the seven mountain paths was more than three hundred.

Ding Shaoyin's troops were limited, and he dispatched pond soldiers on seventeen small roads around him, of which only twelve roads were controlled by troops.

These roads are either in good road conditions and can accommodate cavalry and vehicles; or they are mountain ridges with a better view, or the terrain is dangerous, so a management team or a hundred generals will be dispatched to set up camps and set up cards, and dig trenches to break the road.

The original intention of this deployment is to prevent Tangqi from infiltrating and covering the battlefield.

As soon as he received the information, Ding Shaoyin pointed to the map and said to Bai Guangen: "This is a feint."

Ding Shaoyin analyzed Liu Chengzong's combat habits since he broke through Jiayuguan. Liu Chengzong always tried to break through from weak defenses, and he was especially tired of attacking tough points, even if he made ultra-long-distance maneuvers.

Liu Chengzong led his army to the Gobi and appeared in Jiayuguan, which in itself was a manifestation of his dislike of attacking fortifications and his reluctance to attack Gulang Gorge.

If the harassment of Tangqi these days gave the Ming army the feeling that something scary was going up the mountain, then for Ding Shaoyin, Liu Chengzong was the most terrifying thing going up the mountain.

Because it is difficult for him to guess how far this guy who made an expedition of three thousand miles to avoid the attack will detour this time to avoid the attack.

This kind of criminal record made Ding Shaoyin conclude that even if Liu Chengzong wanted to storm Gulang Gorge, he would most likely try to attack their rear.

So last night he was chatting with Bai Guangen, and while chatting, he ordered Bai Guangen's lieutenant Lu Yunchang to lead a thousand headquarters to defend Zhuanglangwei, just because he was afraid that Liu Chengzong would walk around Yongtai City on Songshan South Road and suddenly appear under Zhuanglangwei City.

But this time, Liu Chengzong was really attacking. The entire [-] army was scattered in the mountains with a radius of [-] miles. He didn't intend to go around the rear of Ding Shaoyin's imagination. The rear he wanted to attack was only Ding Shaoyin's central army.

Soon, less than two hours after the first confrontation, the information of the Tang soldiers on several other mountain roads also came back—including the three small villages on the mountain ridge, they were fully attacked.

On Yingpan Ridge, fifteen miles northeast of Xianglin Temple, the frontline stronghold, the Baizong of the Standard Battalion stationed there risked his life to break through and brought back the appearance of the frontline army of the Marshal Army.

"General, it is indeed Tang Bing."

Mr. Bai first ran to Xianglin Temple. Mr. Qian, who was stationed at Xianglin Temple, did not dare to press the information, and immediately let him run to the Heisong Station in the rear. It was already evening when he arrived at Heisong Station.

Ding Shaoyin's heart ached when he saw the appearance of Bai Zong. The bowl on his head went somewhere, the hair scarf was also missing, his hair was disheveled, and two broken arrows with the arrow body broken were stuck on the cloth-covered iron armor. The cloth cover was burnt out several times There was a hole, and the red cloth surface was smudged to a layer of jet black.

"What do you see, tell the truth."

Mr. Bai said: "In the morning, firearms and gunshots were heard from the east and west valleys of Yingpanling, but the situation of the battle could not be seen clearly under the cover of the forest; at noon, on the north side of the mountain road on the Lingshang Mountain, we saw Tangqi, one rider and two steps, parallel on the mountain road, They have hawks in their hands."

"How can you be sure it's an eagle gun?"

"They stood still at intervals of a hundred steps, and fired a few guns at the gate twenty steps in front of the village. Our soldiers fired pearl cannons on the archery tower to drive them away. The humble officer looked at the lead bullets embedded in the wooden fence, and plucked them out. It weighs eight coins when it comes out."

"and after?"

"Later, more and more of their pond soldiers gathered on the mountain ridge road. The mountain road outside the gate only allowed five or six people to go side by side, but seven or eight eagle guns fired a salvo and killed the gunners, and then occupied the archery tower. The guns are fired in the base village, and they still have fire oil."

"The watchtower is too close to the small village. If there is no watchtower, they would not be afraid. They climbed to the watchtower and threw kerosene jars at the small village. The wind was strong on the mountain ridge, which helped the fire and burned the tent completely."

Mr. Bai said, as if recalling the smoky experience, he said with a bad face: "The village is set up on the mountain. When the village was built, I didn't expect to stand on the base's watchtower and throw kerosene into the village. The base led the troops to charge and kill countless people. Once, the last person killed by the eagle gun did not take back the watchtower, the fire became fiercer, and the soldiers behind all ran away, so they had to retreat from the mountain ridge."

Ding Shaoyin captured a very crucial message: "They didn't bring guns?"

Mr. Bai's eyes widened, and he seemed to want to ask who Tang Qi was carrying the cannon, but he suppressed his desire to express, and shook his head: "No, they are all lightly dressed."

Hearing this answer, Ding Shaoyin finally believed that it was indeed not Liu Chengzong's main force that attacked the small roads, but Tang Qi.

"Counterattack back."

Arranging for the escaped President Bai to go down to rest, Ding Shaoyin summoned the thousand generals under his command to report the military situation, and said to everyone: "The main force of the enemy army should be rounding our flank at this time. The situation is very unfavorable for us under the pressure of the Tang soldiers. We must counterattack and let the Tang soldiers reoccupy the mountain ridge."

He must know the movement of Liu Chengzong's main force, and those mountain ridges captured by the marshal's army have become particularly important. Although there are no small breakthrough enemy troops in those places, the movement of the brigade can be ascertained through the flying birds and dust in the forest. Momentum.

Only by knowing the marching route of the enemy's main force can we know how to defeat them one by one.

Since the Tang soldiers can't beat the Marshal Army Tang soldiers with superior forces, then use the regular soldiers to fight.

That night, Ding Shaoyin ordered the two generals who were originally under Chai Shihua's subordinates to send troops with four generals to retake the surrounding four mountain ridges.

It happened that at this night, Liu Chengzong's main force approached him.

The messenger cavalry holding the torches rushed all the way along the Gulang River to the Heisong Post. Outside the post, they got off their horses and bowed down. They clasped their fists towards the top of the city and shouted: "General, the Xianglin Temple was attacked. Thousands of enemy troops dragged the cannons to the top of the city. off the mountain road!"

　good afternoon!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)