stubborn thief

North bank of Weihe River.

Liu Chengzong stood on the Tushan Mountain at night, watching the Lintao Brigade on the south bank of the Wei River rampage on the Ming army's defense line.

In fact, the field operations of the Marshal's Army can no longer be called earth mountains. It has neither earth nor mountains. It is entirely a temporary command platform built by chariots and wooden planks.

Standing on this high platform, Liu Shizi missed Xie Erhu's Mongolian camp very much.

Even though the Mongolian battalion was unable to fight a tough battle, either disintegrating in the charge or charging in the process of collapse, but it had been in the army for a long time, and it had already developed excellent soil engineering skills.

Building mountains of earth and digging trenches is quick and good.

How can they be like this gang of reckless men in Huben Camp, who all talk about being the best in the world on paper.

The Huben camp was very good at designing and planning things like earthen hills, trenches, and fortifications, but it was really up to them to build them. Without prefabricated tools such as chariots and pallet trucks, each one was more skilled than the other in order to get started with earthwork work.

Fortunately, the Marshal's Army has many tanks, so it doesn't hurt to use them to build temporary fortifications. However, this still made Liu Shishi realize his own shortcoming: battle.

When it comes to the battle, his wooden elevated platform to command the army is not eye-catching enough, and the military flags and drums cannot be mounted.

Putting aside worries about what had not yet happened, Zhang Xianzhong's surprise attack on the south bank of the Wei River was a brilliant fight for Liu Chengzong.

He had seen Luo Rucai's performance a long time ago, but it was too far away, and the group's fire was not conspicuous enough, and the number of people was too small. They fought back and forth, and Liu Shizi couldn't figure out who was fighting whom.

On Zhang Xianzhong's side, after all, there were 1 troops. Even if he tried to hide his whereabouts, the torches and fires on the Yunnan soldiers' defense line were still bright, not to mention the cannons. For a while, there were bursts of cannons and flames soaring into the sky. It is easy to see the situation on the front.

Zhang Xianzhong's three battalions used outflanking methods to break through the east-west Yunnan troops' front line layer by layer. It seemed that they were making rapid progress.

In Liu Chengzong's eyes, this was a sign that the Yunnan troops in charge of the Weinan defense line were weak. After all, his family knew his own affairs, and the Lintao Brigade Flag Army under Shi Xiang was not a strong soldier to begin with.

But in fact, the battle on the front line was far more brutal than what he saw.

Mentally, both armies had extraordinary fighting spirit.

The Yunnan troops marched [-] miles away just for a fight; the Lintao brigade flag army also had enough to eat and drink, and was eager for meritorious service; Yang Guodong's cavalry battalion was even more eager to show its face in front of the generalissimo.

Objectively speaking, the battlefield was too narrow and long, with almost no flanks for both sides. Under the outflanking strategy, both sides were intertwined and had no direction to escape.

Therefore, the two armies almost exerted their strength and showed off their special skills. On the fighting field where the three battalions fought, small teams and even large teams were repelled, reorganized, and attacked again at every moment.

The three generals of the Lintao Brigade, Li Zude, under the orders of Shi Xiang, dealt with the thousand Yunnan soldiers who initially deployed to the east. With the help of surprise attacks and twice the force, they directly stepped on the iron caltrops and withstood the crossbow arrows, approaching the enemy formation. Open antler fences, cross trenches and fight in close quarters.

Another general, Zhang Yunqi, under the order of Shi Xiang, led [-] banner troops to outflank and cross the defense line, directly attacking the flanks of the Yunnan troops defending northward.

But they were only halfway through their offensive when Long Zaitian's command and dispatch had already been conveyed in place. Four, five, and five hundred battalions came over for reinforcements. Seeing that they couldn't get any advantage in fighting hand-to-hand, Zhang Yunqi divided his troops into five sentries and used muskets. The small cannon started a series of advances and retreats.

The two thousand flag troops under the camp were divided into five posts on the front, left, center and right. Each post was divided into teams of 50 people. Most of the soldiers used long soldiers and bows and arrows to guard against the enemy's surprise attack.

It all depends on the team's dozen or twenty three-eye muskets and bird muskets, which are divided into five batches. The three or four muskets are fired according to the command of the team. Groups of formations move forward; if they cannot advance, groups of formations move backwards.

When the enemy troops rush in front of them, they are driven back by swordsmen and archers.

If you can't reach the front, the troops will be divided into five sentries and three flanks, and fire will be launched in a series of musketry attacks from all directions and from multiple angles.

The fight between these two battalions cannot be said to be exciting, it can only be said to be very stable. There is nothing that can be done about it. Zhang Yunqi and Li Zude, the two generals who surrendered to Liu Chengzong with Shi Xiang, are very lacking in actual combat experience.

Zhang Xianzhong, who was watching the battle from behind, shook his head when he saw the two military formations.

He raised his whip and pointed at the battlefield, cursing at Shi Xiang: "Commander of the division and brigade, look at those two generals, they haven't fought since they were born, right?"

"It's just that the commander-in-chief feeds the soldiers well, trains them properly, and lets a team leader take command from the front line, so that's how it ends!"

Shi Xiang saw that Zhang Xianzhong didn't know who he was after a battle, so he didn't bother to talk to him.

It's not just those two who have never fought before. It was my Shixiang's first serious battle. Like those two people, he also joined the Ming army to defend Lanzhou and failed to survive.

You, Zhang Xianzhong, have a clever plan. Guess how you lost that battle?

Hey, your master took the lead in surrendering.

Do you understand what it means to turn defeat into victory?

Anyone can laugh at his fighting ability, especially Zhang Xianzhong, who has a relatively strong fighting ability. He has this qualification.

But Shi Xiang would never admit that Zhang Xianzhong was qualified to laugh at his courage and vision.

Among humans, the emotion of ‘looking down’ is usually mutual.

Zhang Xianzhong felt that Shi Xiang did not know how to fight and was incompetent; Shi Xiang also felt that Zhang Xianzhong did not know how to behave and was a little trash.

Shi Xiangxin said, "Courage is more important than eyesight. I had the sharp eye to recognize the real dragon when the commander-in-chief only had a few thousand troops. I did not hesitate to give Lanzhou as a gift, and I sought wealth and honor amidst dangers, so that I could obtain the honorable position of Brigade Commander-in-Chief today."

You Zhang Xianzhong, you and your army were blocked in Zhuanglang Acropolis and dared not show your face, so you asked that little guy Feng Shilin to get a letter of appointment with a bull-headed horse-face and make an emergency landing.

If you have eyesight but not vision, if you have courage but not courage, who the hell are you?

You are the lucky minister who gained the upper position in my Grand Marshal's Mansion by relying on the kindness of your fellow countrymen!
Thinking of this, Shi Xiangpi held his hands in a smile and said, "What do you think of me?"

Zhang Xianzhong became happy when he saw his expression: "Hey, the division commander is not convinced? Look at your general Yang Guodong, he looks like he knows how to fight."

When Shi Xiang heard this, he looked at Yang Guodong's troops who were intersecting behind the enemy lines. Yang Guodong's troops had many cavalry and did not dismount to fight on foot when the conflict broke out. They were also divided into five sentries. At this time, they were pulling seven or eight Yunnan military battalions of 500 people to fight.

Oh no, to be precise, I will be kicked out soon.

Because the cavalry has much fewer troops than the infantry under the same fighting width, they are beaten on every front, and four or five cavalry can be defeated at a glance.

Shi Xiang thought Zhang Xianzhong was being sarcastic, so he shook his head and said, "Damn it, I didn't expect Yang Guodong to be so incapable of fighting."

"Well...no, no."

Zhang Xianzhong shook his head, stroking his thick beard under his chin, and spoke strange words like a sour scholar: "Wars are impermanent, power is impermanent, and water is impermanent. Have you ever heard of division commanders? It's from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms." Shi Xiang listened to these words. , one of the top two, this man spoke clearly as an uneducated person, and he also showed off in front of himself, a serious hereditary officer.

He said: "Zhang Brigade Commander, these words come from Sun Tzu."

Ok?
Zhang Xianzhong frowned and looked at Shi Xiang, instinctively thinking that his grandson was deceiving me.

However, our Lao Zhang’s education level is very limited, and he belongs to the level of teahouse listening and education. He himself is not sure whether the saying that war is impermanent comes from the Three Kingdoms or the Water Margin.

Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong simply didn't care too much about him, and continued: "Don't worry about which grandson said it, what does it mean? Soldiers win because of the enemy. What kind of skills can you use to deal with any kind of grandson?"

"Those two generals fought very steadily, but now we are fighting in the field at night. Look at the terrain. How can we defeat them if they win steadily? Even if they kill half of the enemy army, the remaining half will not be able to defeat them. Where the hell did it break?"

With Zhang Yunqi's hundreds of muskets, he could indeed suppress the enemy with a terrifying offensive sequence, but he could only kill and wound a few people in each round. Under night conditions, it had almost no deterrent effect.

This in itself is no problem.

Zhang Xianzhong felt that there was a problem because he did not believe that the Lintao Brigade could always maintain good morale and discipline: "The enemy is in an invincible position. Our army can stop them when they advance to the chain. But if there was a mistake a while ago, a few shots will The blunderbuss is burned out and exploded. Can they block it, and if so, how long can they block it?"

"So frontline generals should choose radical tactics at this time to defeat the enemy as soon as possible instead of stabilizing the front."

If there is a stalemate, the competition is about who can avoid causing problems.

No army dares to boast that such a seaport can guarantee that there will be no problems in combat.

Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong appreciated Yang Guodong's choice of tactics more, but Shi Xiang couldn't understand it.

During the conversation between the two, the situation on the battlefield changed slightly. With the assaults of Yang Guodong's cavalry, more and more Yunnan soldiers were dispatched to the battle line by Long Zaitian.

The entire Yunnan army front from east to west became very thin. One Yunnan army battalion was deployed to the east to face the line facing the Lintao Brigade. For a time, Yang Guodong's more than [-] cavalry had to face an attack of more than [-] infantry. Military fighting tends to become more intense.

Under the cover of night, you advanced and I retreated, I advanced and you retreated, and they clashed for more than ten rounds. Finally, at a certain moment, it seemed that the casualties suffered by Yang Guodong's men exceeded the psychological endurance of the soldiers. Suddenly, the battle line collapsed, and all the brigade and squadrons were destroyed. Fell backward.

For a time, the Yunnan soldiers and generals blew their trumpets and played music to encourage them. The Tumu soldiers shouted and encouraged, and each battalion took advantage of the victory and swarmed to pursue them.

Shi Xiang, who was observing the battlefield all the time, turned pale, clenched his fists and lamented: "Ah, Yang Guodong is defeated!"

Zhang Xianzhong looked confident, like someone who had experienced it before. He patted Shi Xiang on the shoulder and said relaxedly: "Look carefully, Generals Zhang and Li are just ordinary people. Only Yang Guodong who has surrendered is your blessing. If the battle fails, After the fight, the general will panic."

He said he was not panicking.

But Shi Xiang could clearly see that Yang Guodong's soldiers showed off the old thieves' habits in the rout. As they fled in a swarm, some people didn't even want their horses, and some people pushed down the property and food rations on the horses. Throw it away, for fear of delaying your escape while carrying heavy objects.

Of course, there are also greedy ones who pick up other people's luggage, pick up other people's horses, and run back as hard as they can.

"Sir, what sarcastic words did you have to say? Hurry up and give the order to reverse the defeat. It's up to you now!"

Shi Xiang was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, but Zhang Xianzhong was not anxious at all. Instead, he became contented, folded his arms and said with a smile: "This is the second trick we, Lao Zhang, use to teach the brigade commander."

"In a night battle, as long as the tactics are decided at the beginning, no matter what the situation is, if the general has a central army, he should fill it in. If there is no central army, don't give orders to the frontline generals, because the reports at night are not smooth and the orders cannot be sent. The past was chaotic without chaos.”

Not to mention, although Zhang Xianzhong felt that Shi Xiang was incompetent, he did not dislike him. After all, Shi Xiang was not a face-conscious person.

But if you don't know how to fight, you can learn it.

Just because Zhang Xianzhong stood next to Shi Xiang and could feel his superiority all the time, he judged that Shi Xiang had a bright future in the Marshal's Mansion.

It is a very powerful trait to make people feel wise.

Especially for the Marshal's Mansion.

After all, the Marshal's Mansion is not afraid of Shi Xiang's shortcomings. His ability to command battles is poor, but commanding battles is not a rare talent of the Marshal's Mansion. Everyone can fight.

This person can increase team cohesion, which is a rare talent.

At this moment, Zhang Xianzhong raised his hand and pointed to the Yunnan soldiers' formation holding open fire in the distance, and said to Shi Xiang: "Look out, Yang Guodong is going to turn around and defeat him."

At this time, on the small battlefield, Yang Guodong's cavalry had already fled in panic for a hundred steps, and soldiers from seven or eight small battalions of Yunnan soldiers also pursued them for a hundred steps.

When they snatched the abandoned horses, fought for the abandoned armor and belongings, Yang Guodong's cavalry turned back in unison at the sound of whistles, and turned back to charge with more ferocity.

The Yunnan soldiers who pursued bravely realized later and quickly formed formations by virtue of the organizational advantages of fathers, sons, brothers, and fellow villagers. However, in their haste, there were still gaps between the formations of each small camp.

Where Yang Guodong's horse head was pointing was at the junction of two small battalions. There was only a narrow gap three to four feet wide in the middle, and it was being quickly filled by the spreading Yunnan soldiers.

For a moment, the cavalry rushed towards the gap, and the infantry rushed to fill the gap. The gap quickly shrank to two feet, then one foot, and finally only two steps wide. The No. 1 cavalryman of Yang Guodong's department rushed into the gap with a hook and sickle, and the war horse was severely knocked away by the impact. Several people and riders on horseback were dismounted by spears as soon as they entered the formation.

But for the rush formation, a moment is enough.

Immediately afterwards, three or five cavalrymen rushed in through the gap with long knives, hooks and spears. The infantry on the left and right side ducked under the trampling of four hooves. Then more than ten cavalrymen filed in, and finally hundreds of cavalrymen tore open the gap until Two small camps of 500 people were torn apart and smashed into pieces.

One broken soldier rolled up two, two rolled up four. At one time, thousands of broken soldiers were running around, and there were even thousands of cavalry behind them, clapping their horses and wielding their swords to chase and kill them. In the midst of shouting and fighting, in the blink of an eye, the Yunnan soldiers were on the battlefield. The collapse is unstoppable.

Even the six Yunnan army battalions that were fighting Zhang Yunqi and Li Zude in the east were affected by the defeat in the west and fell into a disadvantage in the battle. The small teams that were stuck in the position spontaneously broke away and fled.

Shi Xiang didn't react to the rapid changes. He stared blankly at the battlefield, then turned to look at Zhang Xianzhong: "Here, Zhang Butang, how do you know he is a defeated enemy?"

"Hey!"

Zhang Xianzhong smiled and said nothing, but looked at Shi Xiang with sympathetic eyes: "Now I know why the commander-in-chief said that you and I have different opinions on the attack and that I am the leader?"

After saying that, he shook his head and said to himself that we, Lao Zhang, are still kind-hearted and can't bear to tell you that fighting requires talent.

However, just as the collapse of the Yunnan troops was intensified by Yang Guodong's cavalry battalion, several cannon bangs sounded from the west of the battlefield, and a huge square battalion stood firmly on the plateau east of Baoji City.

On the front of the military formation, four infantry brigades formed two wind-raising formations, one on the left and one on the right, like two big claws of a crab, making way for the cavalry to leave the camp.

Ai Wannian was carried on a chair by his servants and led the Yansui soldiers to the battlefield. (End of chapter)