Orthodox fifteenth year mid-April.

Staff General Dai Jingkui led a total of more than 40,000 soldiers and horses from various battalions to march north from Wuping County, the capital of Tingzhou, and rushed in the direction of the capital of Tingzhou.

The army went north through Beizhai and Yongpingzhai all the way, and arrived in the area of Huanggongling in the north two days later.

At this time, the general Dai Jingkui led his troops to set up camp in a mountain forest in the Huanggong Mountains, and sent Ye Buhui to explore the way.

Huang Gongling was earlier called "Huanggu Ling". The name of Huangguling has a more ancient legend around Wuping County.

According to legend, when Emperor Shun toured south, Emperor Shun's two concubines, Empress E and Nuying, followed all the way to this ridge. The two suddenly heard that Emperor Shun died of illness on the way, and Empress E and Nuying were heartbroken. Coupled with the fatigue of long-distance travel, Emperor E fell ill, and Nuying was unfortunately bitten by a poisonous snake in the mountains and forests.

This is really a house leak that has been rained overnight, which can be described as miserable. The second concubine helped the nuns in a nunnery on the ridge to rescue her. After recovering from illness, in order to thank the nuns, the mountains, land, and fish ponds were given to the nunnery for eternity. The nuns called this ridge Huanggu Ridge to show gratitude.

Later, this Huanggu Ridge was rumored to be Huanggongling.

This time, General Dai Jingkui led his troops to set up a large camp and did not march north for several days.

It's not that the generals Dai Jingkui, Liu Juntao and others are not in a hurry, but that the mountains in the area of Huanggongling overlap and the terrain is complex, and if you are not careful, you will be ambushed by thieves.

What's more, the 300,000 troops of the Seventh Division of the thief Deng Mao have not known their whereabouts until now, and if they can't get it, they will hide in this Huanggong Mountain, so the generals Dai Jingkui, Liu Juntao and others are all cautious.

However, in the past few days, the night not collected by the staff general Dai Jingkui, as well as the exploration horses of Yushan Town, have successively sent news: the capital city of Tingzhou has been attacked by Ye Zongliu's army of thieves, and the head of the city has been successfully attacked by thieves and soldiers many times, and the defenders and people in the city have not been able to hold out for long.

In the face of such a sinister situation, the generals Dai Jingkui and Liu Juntao were anxious, but in the face of the complex terrain around Huanggong Mountain, they could only be anxious.

Two days later, Ye Bushu rushed back one after another, and reported an important news to General Dai Jingkui: the traces of thieves and soldiers were found in Huanggongling!

And Liu Juntao also received the news sent by the Investigation Department, and learned that there were a large number of thieves and soldiers in Huanggongling.

Liu Juntao hurriedly convened the commanders of the battalions, and everyone studied the map of the Huanggongling area, and found that Huanggongling was located between Wuping County and Tingzhou Fucheng, which was a natural defense line in the south of Tingzhou Fucheng.

"The 300,000 troops of the Seven Divisions of the Thief Deng Mao have been missing before, and now it seems that the thieves have entered the area of Huanggong Mountain and are ready to stop us here!"

Zhang Xiaojun said in a deep voice.

Yan Hu next to him was also worried and said: "The terrain around Huanggongling is already complicated, if there are really 300,000 thieves stationed in it, then our more than 40,000 soldiers and horses really can't go north!" ”

At this time, Liu Juntao stared at the map on the table, and said thoughtfully: "I think that Deng Maoqi doesn't want to stop us in Huanggongling, but wants to ambush us in the mountains!" ”

Listening to Liu Juntao's words, everyone was taken aback.

Although the more than 40,000 officers and soldiers are strong, if they are ambushed by the 300,000 swarming thieves in the rugged mountains, it is estimated that these more than 40,000 officers and soldiers will basically be confessed to Huanggongling!

Thinking of this, Zhang Xiaojun, Yan Hu, Sun Xu, and Zhou Zongsheng all felt a chill in the back of their heads, and they were terrified.

"Fortunately, the army did not collect at night and the investigation department was effective, and the enemy situation was detected in advance, otherwise the consequences would be really unimaginable!"

Liu Juntao continued: "Since Deng Maoqi led his troops to ambush in Huanggongling, then we can only eat a thief, let Deng Maoqi know that we have seen through his strategy, and then fight with us in the Huanggongling area, so that we can have a chance to break through Huanggongling and go north to Tingzhou City!" ”

After listening to this, everyone nodded frequently.

Indeed, in this situation, only by letting Deng Maoqi take the initiative to give up the ambush plan, and instead take the initiative to attack and start a decisive battle with the official army, can more than 40,000 officers and troops have a chance to win, otherwise Deng Maoqi will lead an army of 300,000 thieves to stick to the mountains, even if he drags the official army to death!

So, Liu Juntao hurried to the camp of the Chinese army and reported the situation to General Dai Jingkui, who also agreed with Liu Juntao's opinion.

On the same day, General Dai Jingkui mobilized troops and horses and sent nearly 20,000 troops from Beijing as the vanguard, Liu Juntao led his troops to support, and he led more than 4,000 Mongolian iron cavalry to slowly press the formation.

More than 40,000 officers and troops marched north in turn and quickly killed a col in Huanggongling.

This mountain col is a stronghold of thieves who are not clear at night, and this group of thieves has about 10,000 people and horses, and they are ordered to guard an official road in the mountains.

In the early morning of the next day, nearly 20,000 troops of the Beijing camp suddenly arrived, and all the soldiers rushed into the mountain col in formation, and the more than 10,000 thieves were caught off guard, and were rushed to pieces by the elite of the Beijing camp, and fled in all directions in the mountain pass.

The camp built by the thieves and horses in the official road in the mountains was lost in less than half an hour and was completely occupied by the army of the Beijing camp.

At this time, Liu Juntao led the 25,000 troops of Yushan Town to stay outside the mountain col, watched the battle in the mountain col, and said to Yan Hu and Zhang Xiaojun: "It seems that the soldiers and horses of the Beijing camp are still elite and strong, at least they can still win to the death against several times the thieves, and they are a strong force!" ”

Zhang Xiaojun and Yan Hu also nodded one after another, and Yan Hu still said proudly: "But this Beijing camp is still a lot worse than our Yushan Town Guard!" ”

"That's nature!"

Zhang Xiaojun also said with a smile: "If you want me to see, our Yushan Town Escort Team can at least rank in the top three in the National Dynasty!" ”

Liu Juntao also smiled when he heard this, but did not speak.

After that, the general Dai Jingkui led more than 4,000 Mongolian iron cavalry to arrive, gathered more than 1,000 thieves and prisoners captured by the soldiers of the Beijing camp, and killed 1,000 people on the spot, and the remaining more than 100 thieves were released on the spot.

Within a few days, more than 100 thieves fled back to the main army of Deng Mao's Seventh Division, and brought back the news that the officers and soldiers had noticed the whereabouts of the army.

Deng Maoqi was furious when he heard the news, his carefully planned ambush plan was shattered in advance, and the only way to do this was to fight head-on with the official army!

At this time, Deng Maoqi's nephew Deng Bosun advised: "Uncle! I think it's better for us to concentrate our forces to defend Huanggongling, not to attack easily, but to wait for the official army to come and attack the mountain! ”

Deng Maoqi pondered and said, "Huh? Keep talking! ”

"Now the officers and soldiers are short of food and grass, even if they are killed, it will be the end of the crossbow! As long as we stick to the mountains and refuse to fight, sooner or later the officers and troops will run out of food and withdraw the army! ”

After Deng Bosun finished speaking, he laughed smugly, thinking that Deng Maoqi would agree with his plan.

But Deng Maoqi shook his head and said, "No! Now Ye Zongliu is expanding wildly, and his strength will skyrocket after a long time! And if we stick here, not only will we miss a great opportunity for development, but after the official army retreats, we will not be able to get the military equipment of the official army, and we will not be able to leave anything behind at that time, so we will be a gunman for Ye Zongliu in vain! ”

"What does that uncle mean?"

Deng Maoqi thought for a while, pointed to the map spread out on the stone in front of the two, and said, "Look! The southern slope of the Huanggong Mountains is relatively flat, but the terrain is still undulating, so that the iron cavalry of the official army cannot be used freely, and can only fight with us on foot, so that our advantage in strength can be brought into play! ”

Speaking of this, Deng Maoqi said loudly: "Uncle Sun! You led 100,000 troops to garrison the Huanggongling defense line, and I personally led 200,000 troops down the mountain to fight a decisive battle with 40,000 officers and troops at the southern foot of Huanggongling Mountain! ”

"Uncle! Never! ”

Deng Maoqi couldn't listen to any opinions at this time, and said loudly: "I have made up my mind!" In this battle, I will wipe out all 40,000 officers and soldiers, and not a single one will be left! ”

"But the firearms of the officers and soldiers are very sharp, how should we deal with them?"

Deng Maoqi sneered and said, "Although the official firearms are sharp, I have been prepared for a long time, so there is no need to worry about this matter!" ”