East Factory Governor

Chapter 463 Battle of Lanzhou ([-])

From Tongzhou to Lanzhou, there is a full three thousand miles.Although these strong warriors marched faster than ordinary soldiers, they could only travel about a hundred miles a day because of the large amount of luggage.In this way, it will take a month to rush to Lanzhou.

11 horses, about 1 war horses.However, soldiers riding war horses are not equal to cavalry. Among the 3000 people, only 1000 members of Jianghe Gang and [-] members of Jinyiwei have received special cavalry training.For the four thousand cavalry alone, even if they were sent first, it would be useless.

So, let's go honestly.

The actions of the Devil's Cult in Gansu are accelerating.

On May [-], Jin Gang, head of the Ruijin Banner of the Demon Sect, set out from Xihe Town with [-] Ruijin Banners and [-] congregants, captured Yongjing, Linxia, ​​and Guanghe, and then went straight to the important town of Yuzhong.

At the same time, about [-] Demon Cult troops in Gulang, led by Wu Lie, the leader of the Raging Fire Banner, headed straight for Silver City.

Baiyin and Yuzhong, one is in the northeast of Lanzhou and the other is in the southeast of Lanzhou. If these two cities are lost, the Demon Cult will immediately surround Lanzhou.

Now of the 11 troops near Lanzhou, [-] are stationed in Baiyin, and [-] are stationed in Yuzhong. Whether to fight or withdraw has sparked heated discussions among the troops.

In the end, Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng agreed that withdraw!Give Baiyin and Yuzhong to the Demon Cult!

As a result, the 11 imperial army was huddled within less than a hundred miles of Lanzhou City.For large army operations, an area with a radius of only a hundred miles does not really have any strategic depth.It can be said that this is a taboo for military strategists.

But why did the two of them do this?
There are two reasons.First, they are not afraid of the Demon Cult attacking Lanzhou.Lanzhou City is very strong, and there are 11 troops standing firm, and among the 11 troops, there are [-] of the most capable troops in the imperial court. They don't believe that the Demon Cult can break through in a short time.Second, they are not afraid of the demon sect besieging the city.There is sufficient food and grass in Lanzhou City, enough for the army to last for more than two months, by then Qin Shuhuai will have arrived long ago!

As soon as Qin Shuhuai arrives, the martial arts allied forces will go from east to west, and the Lanzhou government army will go from west to east, and they will be able to attack the Demon Cult from both sides, destroying the Demon Cult's defense line from Baiyin to Yuzhong is as easy as pie.

Never send troops in vain before they are sure, this is their shrewdness.

At the same time, they built a large number of fortifications near Lanzhou City, including widening the moat, digging subsidence, increasing the number of horses, building high platforms, and growing soil barriers from the city wall. The preparatory work was very sufficient.

And before that, most of the Franco cannons, firearms, ammunition, arrows, food, etc. from the cities near Lanzhou were transported to Lanzhou by them, so Lanzhou has everything, what you want!
Lu Xiangsheng's strategy is to manage Lanzhou into a "point" waiting to bloom. Once Qin Shuhuai's army arrives, this point will echo with Qin Shuhuai's internal and external, and wipe out the Demon Cult in one fell swoop!
That's how it went for about ten days.

After the Demon Cult occupied Yuzhong and Baiyin, Ma Shouying's men frequently appeared in these two places. Judging from various signs, Ma Shouying had already surrendered to the Demon Cult.

This is not unexpected, Ma Shouying has been active in the southeast of Gansu, and now the government and the army are deploying heavy troops in the east of Gansu to prevent the Demon Cult from advancing eastward.The Demon Sect is advancing into Yuzhong and Baiyin, and repeatedly raiding the central and eastern regions of Gansu. If Ma Shouying does not surrender, he will either be suppressed by the army or be suppressed by the Demon Sect. Therefore, surrendering to the Demon Sect is his best way out—it is said In order to recruit the rogues, the Demon Cult gave excellent conditions!

Ma Shouying claimed to have an army of 4, but in fact it was only 4 or [-].However, his [-] to [-] troops are better than ordinary rogues, because one-third of Ma Shouying's troops are Hui Hui. Everyone understands the truth here.

Ten days later, the situation changed suddenly.

On May [-]th of the third year of Chongzhen, the Demon Cult sent troops from Baiyin, Yuzhong, and Dachuan, and a total of about [-] troops (including [-] horse guards) rushed to Lanzhou!
The Demon Cult is ready to attack Lanzhou!

Lu Xiangsheng was shocked!
Hong Chengchou was shocked!
Gansu General Cao Wenzhao was shocked!
Gansu governor Wang Julun was shocked!
After getting the news, Lu Xiangsheng immediately ordered Hong Chengchou to lead Shaanxi soldiers to rescue Lanzhou!As for the shortage of troops in Shaanxi, he will be transferred from Shanxi.

Knowing that the situation was urgent, Hong Chengchou brought an army of [-] without saying a word, and rushed to help immediately.

As a great military strategist, he naturally wouldn't go directly to Lanzhou, otherwise he might be ambushed by the Demon Sect on the way.So he headed to Guyuan first, which was still the territory of Shaanxi, where the Demon Cult had not yet touched, and it was not far from Lanzhou, where he could act according to his own circumstances.

In Lanzhou City, the governor of Gansu entrusted all the power of commanding troops to Cao Wenzhao.

As one of the three tiger generals on three sides, Cao Wenzhao naturally has his strategy.

The Demon Cult attacked Lanzhou from west, north, and south routes, and he set up an ambush on these three routes to consume them first!
The 11 army was divided into four groups by him.

A total of 2 people were ambushed on the South Road in Changwa Mountain.

A total of 5000 people were ambushed in the area of ​​Dunwa Mountain on the North Road.

One was on the West Road, a total of 5000 people, ambushing in the Chenguanying area.

The remaining [-] troops were all stationed in the city.

These three ambush areas are less than [-] miles away from Lanzhou City. If the enemy is expected to be wiped out, he does not rule out sending reinforcements.

On May [-]th, among the Demon Cult's three armies, the more than [-] people from the South Route were the first to arrive at Changwa Mountain.

Changwa Mountain, as the name suggests, is a depression in the middle, surrounded by mountains, very suitable for ambush.

Cao Wenzhao's strategy is naturally correct.

The main force responsible for the ambush on the South Road was the [-] Changping Army, plus another [-] Xining Army, led by Wang Zhuozhao, the deputy general of the Changping Army.

The Devil's Cult was very careful and sent [-] sentries to investigate.

For this, Wang Zhuozhao was prepared. He reserved [-] cavalry in advance, pretending to patrol the official road at the foot of the mountain.

After discovering the Devil's Cult's horse post, they naturally began to pursue and kill them immediately.

The twenty horse posts turned around and ran away. In the end, five horse posts were able to stand out from the encirclement thanks to their lightness skills, and the rest were all killed by the Ming army's horse soldiers.

Now the problem is left to Jin Gang, the commander-in-chief of the Devil's Sect's South Road Army, the leader of the Demon's Sect's Ruijin Banner.

Did the cavalry of the Ming army come across their own horse post on normal patrols, or did the Ming army have ambushed in Changwa Mountain, and those cavalry deliberately drove away their own horse post?
Jin Gang acted cautiously, and would never use troops until he knew this.However, the Demon Cult's three armies had agreed that they would all arrive at the city of Lanzhou before dark, so he couldn't delay too long.

After learning about this, one member of the army came to Jin Gang with a smile and expressed his willingness to take a few people to the mountain to see what happened.

This person is one of the five scatterers, the one-eyed scatterman Xiao Bujing.

Xiao Bujing is ranked second among the five scattered people. He has reached the fifth level of Xiaocheng Realm. His cold spring sword is famous all over the world.

He was willing to make a move, and Jin Gang naturally readily agreed.

So Xiao Bujing took five experts and immediately set off to Changwa Mountain to check.

Changwa Mountain is a place name, not a mountain, but a group of mountains.If ordinary people want to find the Ming army in ambush, it will take a lot of trouble, maybe they may not be able to find it even after the sun sets.

However, Xiao Bujing and these five masters were all excellent in lightness kungfu, they walked on the ground like walking on the ground in the mountains, and within an hour they found the ambush.

When the ambush soldiers of the Ming army saw that they were discovered, they naturally attacked them immediately.

Crossbows, arrows, and infantry are all on the line. Although Xiao Bujing is one of the five scattered members of the Devil's Cult, he is still an individual. How can it be so easy to leave when he is in the army?
Six people went there, five of them were killed, Xiao Bujing was wounded in three places before he escaped.

Seeing that the ambush was seen through, the Ming army proposed to withdraw to Lanzhou City.

But Wang Zhuozhao, who commanded the army, flatly refused.

The mission of the [-] army is to intercept and consume the Demon Cult. How can we explain to General Cao when we withdraw at this time?And if the Demon Sect catches up, wouldn't the army be beaten passively?
Now that our army occupies the high ground on both sides of the official road, so what if the Demon Sect sees through the ambush?

If they want to go up the mountain to attack, they will attack. Why should our army be afraid of being condescending?

If they want to pass through the official road quickly, our army will go down the mountain with fierce tigers and attack from both sides. They will definitely teach them how powerful our Changping army is!

(End of this chapter)