The new army is mostly infantry, and the marching speed is not very fast, and Zhu Hao also deliberately maintains the marching rhythm of the troops. Thankfully, the new troops were highly trained in cross-country training, and long marches were nothing to them. After arriving in Xinyang, Henan Province from Fengyang via Lu'an, the soldiers still maintained their vigorous energy.

After a short rest in Xinyang, the troops went directly to Suizhou. At this time, Suizhou has been occupied by the peasant army He Yilong, from Suizhou to Macheng is the mobile area of the peasant army, Macheng belongs to the Dabie Mountains, since ancient times it is the entrenched place of bandits and grass bandits, the people are fierce, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

During the rest and recuperation of the troops, news came from the reconnaissance battalion that the main force of He Yilong's troops was stationed in Suizhou, with more than 50,000 people, most of whom were old and weak family members, and only more than 10,000 real soldiers, while more than 3,000 people were active in Macheng, and the troops in other towns were weak.

He Yilong's peasant army was at the junction of Henan and Huguang, and if he wanted to enter Huguang, he must first take it down, so as not to suffer the enemy on his back. After learning of the deployment of the enemy's troops, Zhu Hao convened a meeting to arrange the deployment of the first battle against He Yilong.

"There are 3,000 thieves in Macheng, although it is not very strong, but this place is backed by Dabie Mountain, in order to prevent the enemy from scattering into the mountains, Boda, you lead the third and fourth regiments and the cavalry battalion to raid Macheng, the cavalry battalion to the north to cut off the enemy's retreat, the infantry to attack the city, I will take a regiment and two regiments to approach Suizhou, after you capture Macheng, leave a battalion to garrison, and the rest of the troops quickly move closer to me, ignore the stragglers, and work together to take Suizhou!"

"Yes, Dashuai, his subordinates will definitely capture Macheng in a short time!" Wang Boda responded.

"The north of Macheng is Muling Pass, the terrain here is dangerous, I think the enemy will definitely garrison here, don't attack, take the cannon to bomb me, this time the artillery is enough, don't save!" Zhu Hao instructed.

It is Zhu Hao's consistent idea to open the way with artillery, and this time the troops brought two base shells, which is one of the reasons why the new army is slow.

After the meeting was dismissed, Wang Boda immediately led two regiments and one battalion of 6,000 cavalry mixed troops and dozens of field artillery to kill Benmuling Pass. Zhu Hao's side took the remaining two regiments and slowly approached Suizhou.

Wang Boda led his troops to gallop day and night, and finally came to the outside of Muling Pass after two days, and hurriedly sent scouts into the mountains to investigate.

Muling Pass is located in the remaining veins of Dabie Mountain, the mountain is not high, the scale of the Guancheng is also very small, it used to be a hundred households. However, it was one of the passes that had to be passed through to enter the lake, and a march with a heavy load like the New Army had to pass through these passes.

After a while, the scouts sent back the news, the scale of the thieves was not large, it seemed that there were five or six hundred people, it seemed very crowded, and the thieves on the gate did not seem to be elite.

Wang Boda groaned a little, arranged for the cavalry to intercept and kill the fleeing thieves after breaking through the city, and ordered the artillery to fire.

One cannon after another opened the cannons and pushed them out, Wang Boda did not use all the artillery he carried, but only took out twenty medium field guns, and when the gunners were busy adjusting the distance and correcting the ruler, the sharp-eyed sentries had already discovered the arrival of the new army, and immediately shouted.

Wang Boda wanted to order to fire immediately, but when he picked up the binoculars and looked at it, he almost fell down, what are these turtles doing?

It turned out that the thieves on the gate not only did not enter the battle state, but pointed at the cannons below, looking very excited, and many people crowded together. This is not to blame them, this group of people are all farmers who have just put down their farm tools and picked up a big knife, they have never seen a cannon, and they are not allowed to see the patriarchs?

Wang Boda didn't know what they thought, and when he saw that the opportunity was fleeting, he immediately ordered the cannon to be fired.

"Boom" A row of deafening explosions remembered, and the peasant army on the gate was startled, and as soon as they came back to their senses, they saw dozens of black things whizzing in the air.

"Run, fucking cannonballs!" The knowledgeable veteran immediately recognized the origin of this thing, and was so frightened that his soul flew out of the sky, and he ran away.

Before the thieves could react, the dozens of black things fell into the crowd and bloomed! The huge force of the explosion blew up large areas of mountains and rocks, and countless people were blown apart before they knew what had happened, and their stumps and broken arms flew everywhere.

Because the peasant army was crowded together, the effect of this round of shelling was particularly good, and after cleaning up the battlefield and checking the points, the first round of shelling killed half of the thieves and wounded countless people, and almost immediately broke the defensive force on the gate!

Wang Boda saw clearly in the binoculars, the remaining thieves were crying and shouting everywhere, and immediately ordered the infantry to charge, and suddenly the loud charge horn sounded, and the infantry cavalry began to charge.

As expected, there was almost no decent resistance, and in less than half an hour, the troops completely occupied the pass, and the peasant army, except for a few dozen fast-running veterans who slipped through the back door, the rest were either killed or wounded or captured, and there was not a single casualty on their own side.

Wang Boda was not happy to have achieved such a result in just one round of shelling, after all, the combat effectiveness of these peasants was completely heaven and earth compared to that of the new army.

The cavalry battalion had already begun to pursue the fleeing enemy, and after simply clearing the battlefield, Wang Boda ordered his troops to march towards Macheng at full speed.

The more than a dozen veterans who fled did not escape, and were soon caught up by the cavalry battalion and all annihilated, so that before dusk, the new army quietly touched the city of Macheng, and the thieves found out, and they couldn't help but be shocked, and the city was in chaos for a while. At this time, there were only 2,000 defenders in Macheng, and the rest went to nearby villages and towns to develop the masses.

Taking advantage of the fact that the enemy had not yet formed an effective defense, Wang Boda continued the old method and ordered the artillery to open fire. After a round of artillery fire, there was hardly any human figure on the city.

"Infantry charge, prepare for street battles and white-knuckle battles!" Wang Boda decisively gave the order. As the trumpet sounded again, thousands of infantry launched a tidal charge, and the surviving thieves at the head of the city hid under the battlements and shivered as they watched the dense new army below, forgetting to use their bows and arrows to resist.

The Demoman, who rushed forward, left a bundle of grenades of increased quantity still under the city gate, and with a loud bang, the entire gate was blown down, and the soldiers of the Forces nouvelles swarmed in, chasing the thieves who scattered and fled for their lives.

The general of the thief soldiers stationed in Macheng was He Jin, the brother of the bandit leader He Yilong, who woke up from the gentle township of the county government when the new army blew up the city gate, and hurriedly ran out, and only after catching a fleeing soldier did he understand the reason, he couldn't help but be shocked and angry, and immediately called his own guards to meet the new army.

I have to say that there are still heroes in the peasant army, this He Jin is a Jiangyang thief, he has trained a good martial arts, is extremely fierce, and his own soldiers are also good at fighting. When Wang Boda arrived at the county office, the battle was nearing its end, and the new army surrounded He Jin and his nearly 100 pro-regiments, but He Jin still brandished a big sword and vowed not to surrender.

Wang Boda said: "He Jin, I will respect you as a man, put down your arms and surrender." ”

"Lao Tzu killed officials and rebelled, this life is long gone, don't talk nonsense with me. Which way are you, report your name! He Jin roared.

"Stubborn! Wang Boda, commander of the Second Division of the General Xu Huai's New Army, what else do you have to say? ”

"The New Army? Yes, it's different from other Ming troops. But Lao Tzu is not convinced, you are just taking advantage of the power of firearms, if the real sword and real gun battle, Lao Tzu is not afraid of anyone. ”

Wang Boda waved his hand and sneered: "It's all here, all bayonets, let these turtles see the combat effectiveness of our new army!" ”

There was a loud bang, and all the New Army soldiers around him loaded their bayonets.

He Jin was just about to congratulate the other party's generals for being fooled, looking at the cold eyes of the soldiers around him, the new-style military uniforms, and the bright bayonets, he suddenly beat a drum in his heart, this army is not ordinary!

The soldiers on both sides shouted, and soon they became a group, and Wang Boda and He Jin fought one-on-one. He himself is also a master, and in the past few years, under the competition with Luo Yunqu and other military masters, his martial arts have also made great progress. At first, the two fought equally, but after dozens of moves, He Jin was difficult to parry.

He Jin looked around, and the personal soldiers he had trained with his own hands were also defeated and retreated by the soldiers of the new army, and he was even more angry in his heart, and he was stabbed without paying attention, and the steel knife in his hand fell to the ground. Wang Boda took a step forward, put the knife in his hand on his neck, and shouted: "Descend or not?" ”

He Jin slowly closed his eyes and said, "If you want to kill or chop, listen to it." It's a pity that our righteous army is powerless to save the people from fire and water! You lackeys of the court will definitely not end well! ”

"How dare you say that you will save all peoples? In this case, you can go with peace of mind, and go to the underworld to watch how our new army saves the people from fire and water! Wang Boda sneered, raised his knife and slashed He Jin to death.

There was no suspense in the battle, although He Jin's personal soldiers fought back desperately, none of them surrendered, and they were still all wiped out.

The Forces nouvelles also suffered different casualties, with five killed and more than a dozen wounded, all losses in white-knuckle battles.

He Jin's deputy fled from the West Gate with hundreds of people when the new army broke the city, and was intercepted and killed by the cavalry battalion on the road, and all of them were annihilated, and the battle of Macheng ended here.

According to Zhu Hao's instructions, Wang Boda left a battalion of troops to garrison Macheng to continue to search for scattered thieves around, and prepared five field cannons for the remaining troops, and he quickly led the rest of his troops to Huang'an in the west.