According to the estimation of the Ming army's ranger horse running, the mountain body of Bofu Mountain extends for more than 20 miles from north to south, and is about 10 miles wide from east to west; To the south of Mt. Bofushi, there are even larger mountain ranges. The terrain of this kind of large mountain forest is steep and complex, and a large number of troops are absolutely reluctant to enter the mountains unless they are forced to do so.

The main force of the Ming army, Sheng Yong's department, about three infantry battalions and 17,800 men, set out from the coastal camp in the north and marched roughly south; In the afternoon, the tribes approached the mouth of the valley at the southern foot of Mt. Bofu. The march was about 30 miles that day.

Compared with the north, there are highlands, woods, and fortifications; Sheng Yong naturally chose to take a detour with the main force and attack the Japanese army from the southern valley.

Ping'an's cavalry battalion had reached the east of Bofu Mountain, waiting for an opportunity to attack and attack the Japanese reinforcements, and temporarily controlled the passage of the valley at the southern foothills. The road in this valley is about eight or nine miles long, but the road is narrow.

Not long ago, Sheng Yong received news from the Ministry of Peace that a large number of Japanese troops were moving westward; It's not like it's about to retreat and avoid the battle.

Such a situation is different from the news obtained by Yao Fang, and Sheng Yong's judgment is that the Japanese army has temporarily changed its strategy. After all, with the position of the forces of both sides at this time, the Japanese army could only abandon the defenders in the north of Bofu Mountain if they wanted to run.

So Sheng Yong was not in a hurry, and he immediately ordered Liu Sheng to lead a battalion of infantry to continue through the valley. The rest of the infantry will camp at the west entrance of the valley and pass through again early tomorrow morning. The valley road is not far in eight or nine miles, but the Chinese army has a large number of vehicles, artillery, and baggage, and it is inconvenient to pass on the narrow road.

Judging from the movements of all parties, Sheng Yong believes that the war is going to be a battle.

Since it was a battle, both sides had to gather most of their forces in the main battlefield, otherwise they would be in danger of being defeated by each other. Sheng Yong sat in charge of the Chinese army, not only to force the Japanese army to choose to fight in terms of the situation, but also to complete the gathering of troops on the battlefield. So far, Sheng Yong's balance has been held perfectly.

After all, the Ming army had just arrived, and it was not easy to land and complete such a battle deployment within a few days. Fortunately, in the "Battle of Jingjing" and "Battle of Crime" experienced by Sheng Yong, the size of the army under his command was hundreds of thousands, and the battlefield was a transfer of thousands of miles; This time, he could have done a more detailed job of deploying more than 20,000 people confined to the northern part of Kyushu Island.

According to Yao Fang's information, Sheng Yong estimated that the Japanese army was about four times the strength of the official army. However, he believes that the officers and troops still have a great advantage in this battle.

The elite infantry, equipped with a large number of firearms and a high armor rate, should be far superior to the Japanese in a frontal battle. At the same time, the 2,000 elite cavalry in Ping'an's hands must not be estimated with 2,000 troops. It is not unreasonable for the imperial court to raise a cavalry at least six or seven times as expensive as the infantry.

And Sheng Yong's understanding of the Japanese army is that there is no decent cavalry at all. The Japanese horsemen equipped with short horses were relatively weak in terms of impact, speed and courage; The infantry of the Ming army has always dealt with the Mongolian cavalry who are skilled in archers and horses.

By this time, the main force of the Chinese army had stopped advancing, and the baggage brigades were building barracks everywhere.

Sheng Yong took his own soldiers and horses to the east, and after a while, he came to the valley mouth. The Liusheng Division had turned into a long column, entering the narrow terrain of the valley.

The long line was silent, surrounded by the sound of footsteps. However, occasionally someone spoke in the queue, because the soldier who spoke was upwind, and it reached Sheng Yong's ears far away.

The soldier's voice said faintly: "When I was a child, a man in the village died, and he stepped on the house and fell down, and his head hit the stone. For many years, people in his family would cry bitterly when they burned paper money, and people in the village would mention him from time to time. Later, when I killed someone for the first time, I remembered the man from the same village, and I was very panicked for several months. ”

Another voice said, "Are you still panicking?" ”

The soldier said: "I've seen a lot later, and now I can't think of anything, but I feel that people who haven't died well have a stench." ”

While speaking, the two sergeants who spoke suddenly saw Sheng Yong and the others, so they closed their mouths and silently followed the crowd on foot.

Sheng Yong turned his head and saw Yao Fang riding beside him, so he said: "I have seen the bloody sword, it is indeed different from the newly forged sword, and it has a murderous aura." ”

Yao Fang hugged his fists and said: "The handsome man will win." ”

However, Sheng Yong's face was not wavering, let alone happy, his expressionless appearance was very stable. After all, if the Japanese army dares to fight, it is the opponent; Sheng Yong felt that he should take this battle seriously, attach importance to it, and use all means to win.

Sun Tzu said well in the Art of War: the major affairs of the country of soldiers are the way to survive. No military general has a reason to treat the battlefield as child's play.

The officers and men of the Chinese army rested for a night, and the next afternoon, Sheng Yong led the main force to arrive in the plain area east of Bofu Mountain. The army built camp fortifications about five miles from the former camp of the Japanese army and stationed them.

Ping'an's cavalry battalion also moved closer to Sheng Yong's department. Since then, the Ming army has gathered the main forces on the battlefield.

The battlefield was full of rangers, and it seemed that no one knew when the conflict would begin, and small groups of men and horses had already fought here and there. Sheng Yong rode a horse in all directions, inspecting the terrain with his own eyes.

It was a plain with the Ming army on the left side of the Bofu Mountain and an unknown river on the right. The flat place in the middle is about six or seven miles wide.

According to the information obtained by Yao Fang, the total strength of the Japanese army was less than 80,000, and the number was much more than that of the Ming army. However, after repeated inquiries by the scouts, it was determined that all the Japanese units were on the west side of the river, and did not spread too wide in the transverse plane; The enemy gave up the advantage of outflanking in the width of the horizontal plane and increased the depth of the large battalion, and it was obvious that the combat strength of the Ming army was also relatively fully estimated.

With tens of thousands of troops on both sides and a distance of five miles, a situation made a major war inevitable. Whoever dares to retreat suddenly with the whole army will inevitably cause confusion and heavy losses in the army.

At this time, the Chinese army of the Ming army also had some understanding of the Japanese army, and judging by the flag and family emblem seen by the scouts, Sheng Yong knew the deployment of the Japanese army. To the west are the men and horses of the Ouchi family; In the middle lane was the coalition of daimyo such as the Spo clan and the Yamana clan; To the east are the Hosokawa clan and other divisions.

On the east side of the battlefield is a river, and on the other side of the river is still an endless flat area with a wide line of sight. There is only the mountain on the west side, and there may be some tactical surprises.

Because of the eastern foothills of the Bofu Mountain, the terrain below is not high, relatively gentle, and the higher you go, the steeper it becomes. If the odd soldier attacked the opponent's flank from the forest, it was possible.

However, with the condition of the Japanese army's horsemen, even if they raid the flank of the Ming army, the destructive power may not be too great. The infantry was too slow, and the suddenness of the attack after rushing out of the mountains and forests would be greatly reduced.

Sheng Yong observed for a long time, and then led a group of cavalry to return to the front of the Chinese army from the left flank. At this time, Ping'an, Liu Sheng and others also rode horses to meet them.

Ping An and the others clasped their fists on horseback and saluted, and they all said short polite words. Sheng Yong returned the salute and said directly: "Take advantage of the sunny weather, and the war will start early tomorrow morning." ”

"Grand, handsome, and happy." Ping An smiled.

Sheng Yong ignored Ping'an, pointed to one of the generals beside Liu Sheng and said: "Commander Zhang, don't go to the front tomorrow, lead your troops to deploy on the left flank, and prepare to counterattack the Japanese surprise soldiers who came out of the woods." ”

Liu Sheng moved his gaze to Yao Fang's face, "What news did the big marshal get?" ”

Sheng Yong shook his head and said, "I guess." ”

Ping'an said to Liu Sheng, "Marquis An Yuan doesn't know, Sheng Dashuai looks like a righteous gentleman, but he is actually very cunning. ”

Liu Sheng didn't want to offend Sheng Yong, he looked very embarrassed when he heard this, and he didn't dare to say anything.

Ping'an then said: "The left wing of the Ouchi Shengjian, in fact, has some ability and knowledge, his misfortune, just met someone Ping, so he ended up fighting hard. Since Ouchi Morimi knows some art of war, of course he will not let go of the use of strange soldiers; Now it seems that only the woods on the mountain may be in need of surprise soldiers. ”

Liu Sheng echoed: "General Ping is reasonable. ”

Ping'an glanced at Sheng Yong and said, "Our Sheng Dashuai's idea, I'll help him say it." You see that he is silent, but his stomach is full of bad water, and he is always pondering, you say this man ......"

Sheng Yong said: "The first merit of this battle is none other than General Ping. ”

When Ping An heard this, he was stunned for a moment, but he couldn't take it anymore.

Sheng Yong said with a serious face: "I hope you will continue to work hard tomorrow, do your best, and live up to the trust of the saint." ”

Everyone hugged their fists and said, "The last general will obey the order." ”

"Drive!" Sheng Yong shouted and hurriedly rode away. Then the voice of peace said, "What shall I do tomorrow?" Grandhandsome is the boss. ”

Sheng Yong said without looking back: "Aren't almost all the cavalry under your command?" ”

On the front of the barracks, sporadic riding activities can still be seen at this time. Sheng Yong ran north for a while, then reined in the war horse and looked around. On a flat land, there is a slightly larger village in the middle, and there are a few scattered houses around. As far as the eye can see, you can see some rice paddies, vegetable fields, and arid and uncultivated wasteland, sparse and scattered trees and shrubs, and occasionally small ponds. A few small, low knolls are planted with trees.

If people don't look back at the dusty barracks behind them, but only look at the open field in front of them, it is a peaceful idyllic scene.

The odds of winning have already been weighed many times in Sheng Yong's heart, of course, it is a battle with a good chance of winning, so he will find a way to fight. However, as long as it is not the moment to really divide the winner or loser, Sheng Yong has been worrying and waiting in his heart.

At night, Sheng Yong personally instructed the generals on duty to deploy open and dark sentries on all sides to prevent the Japanese army from attacking the camp. But fortunately, there was no incident overnight. After all, you can't send too many people out of a sneak attack at night, and it is easy to cause chaos; What can really distinguish the superior is the battle of the main force the next day.

The sky was getting whiter, and there was an uproar on all sides. The sound of trumpets and the noise of men and horses hung over the land. The morning air was a little damp and cool, but the ground was dry and it seemed to be a sunny day.